The Princess and the Red Knight
by eternalasucaga
Summary: A tale about the Red Knight's journey to become closer to the Princess' heart. (Will definitely rewrite this summary) R&R.
1. Ignited

A/N: The plot is set in the middle ages, supposedly. It is possible that I may have mixed up the way of living from other periods, since it's unimaginable that I perfectly portray the era as how it was then (because I was not in their position and only googled how life in the middle ages was like). I'd like to propose that you just think of this as my own version of that part of human history. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed/Destiny.

Chapter 1: Ignited

He could not even start to count the stars. Looking up to his window, there was nothing that he could see. The thick clouds hovered high in the sky, blocking him from seeing the bright and twinkling lights. He could feel the wind though, breezing into his room, giving him the chills.

But even so, he did not pull up the blanket to cover his whole body. He rested his head on his palms as lay in his mattress and continued to stare at the starless sky.

He could not sleep yet again. This was becoming such a habit for him that he wanted to get rid of. Every night, he would force himself to get some rest. There were times that he would get lost in the land of dreams, but most of the time, he was just wide-awake and he would be like that until dawn.

Never ending thoughts came into his mind. It was as if the chain of thoughts were teasing him, taunting him of his deepest desires. He then wondered how his mind could possibly do that almost every knight, even when his body was extremely exhausted throughout the day.

He sighed. Succumbing to defeat that he would not get a wink of sleep tonight. Instead of letting that bother him, he let his mind wander to those thoughts that prevented him from entering into a deep slumber in the first place.

_What do I want to be?_

A lot of people have continuously asked themselves this very problematic and demanding question. They acknowledge that this is is something that is never easy to find an answer to, with the state of nakedness and fragility that a person is born into. In this world, where there is nothing concrete in store for them, only an influx of a great number of possibilities coupled with the human ability to be able to choose and to act how they ought to live their life.

It isn't something that is predetermined, that was a fact. Although it might be an easy ticket for people who have a hard time figuring it out, it would be such a waste if it were. For if it was true that everything was already established right from the moment that they breathed life into this world, then a person could no longer desire and strive for what they dream. It was that need for spontaneity that made life exciting and worth living.

Even so, given that life in the realm of spontaneity, it comes back to the very probing question and the start of an uncertain journey.

Luckily for him, he had it all figured when he was still a young lad. There was no need for all of that confusion and searching. He did not even get to the point of realizing the existence and the need to ask the question: _What do I want to be?_ He already knew.

Call it the fateful meeting or at the very least, a meeting that happened by chance. But whatever it was called, that single encounter was all it took for him to comprehend how he would live his life from them on.

It was on that day that he met her.

Smiling from ear to ear, he recalled the series of events that lead to that one sunny afternoon that was forever etched on his mind.

He wasn't good in making friends when he was a kid. In fact, he was a very quiet and unsociable boy, preferring to just watch as the kids of the neighborhood play outside while he sat just by their window. His mother would always encouraged him to step outside of their house and ask if he could play with them, but he would always shake his head no, it wasn't an option for him.

It wasn't because the other kids were mean or anything. He never had the chance to talk to them anyway. He was too reluctant to even approach them. Adding to that the unfortunate incident that happened to him exactly two years ago, when he was only five years old, he had a rare disease.

That disease scared him so much when he saw it appearing on his body. On his right hand were blotches of red that itch so bad that he couldn't even think straight. All that he thought about was to scratch it again and again, but it didn't go away. He woke up the next day and the spots were all over his body.

His mother told him that he shouldn't panic, but he could not help but cry when it spread throughout his body when he woke up the next morning. How could he not? It got so bad that he wanted to scratch his whole body against a tree. Trying to console him, his mother told him that she also caught the same sickness when she was young, but in no time, the red marks were finally gone.

"Don't fret. It'll go away." He remembered her saying to him. He wondered though, if she was telling the truth or just trying to make him feel better.

Everything had been going smoothly after a few days, he got used to the red spots on his skin after a few days, and he was able to control his furious need to scratch it until the itching sensation was gone. Like what his mother told him, he stayed inside the house.

That was until there was a huge commotion outside. He was reading a book when he heard a lot of noise. He walked to their window and tried to hear what they were talking about. The royal family is here. He heard their neighbors exclaim.

His curiosity was on its peek. The royal family always seemed to be the topic of their neighbors, even his mother and father. They always described the royal family in a very positive manner. They were very regal and very virtuous. With the way that they talked about the family, he developed some sort of dream to be able to see them too.

With that in mind, he forgot about his mother's strict reminder not to go out of the house. His disease was infectious, which was why he should just stay inside or else he would infect other people as well, she told him. But all that slipped out of his head, only thinking about going out to see what everyone was fussing about.

Stepping outside, he could see that a swarm of people in the streets. Even with the hot sun blaring its rays and the humid air that enveloped the town, it didn't matter to the people. All that mattered was a chance to be able to have a glimpse of the royal family.

He wanted to see them too. What did they look like? Did they really wear gold and heavy crowns on the top of their heads? Did they ride glorious horses on their way here? Would they talk to them or what?

Unfortunately, it didn't go well for him. Their neighbor's son saw him and gasped at the sight of the red blotches that spread on his body. He screamed, loud enough for quite a number of people to turn to his direction and to panic. It seemed that a lot of people are not familiar with that kind of disease and started to be terrified, not just because the sickness might infect them and cause them their life. It wasn't that serious. He thought. Although he could not explain himself as the people shuffled and scurried away. For them it wasn't just about that, what was worse that the royal family might also catch this illness as well.

Almost hurriedly, they tried to shoo him away from the scene. From afar, he could see what the people referred to as the 'royal carriage' slowly approaching this part of the street. The people became frantic more than ever, unable to decide between pushing him away and refusing to lay their hands on him. They had to get rid of him. That was what he could make out with the discord going on.

More and more people were surrounding him, as if to hide him if the carriage went their way. Their voices getting louder and he was getting confused, as he was unable to understand what they were saying. As for him, he was getting more and more petrified. For a five-year old boy, it seemed like a swarm of bad wolfs he had read in his storybooks surrounded him, waiting for the right time to assault and devour him right there.

Hot tears were already rushing down his cheeks. He had been a bad little boy. If only he had listened to his mother, this wouldn't have happened. He wouldn't have all of this dangerous glares and shouts directed at him. He was lost. What was he to do? At that moment, he knew that people didn't want him there. They wanted him to go away.

His mother arrived in the nick of time. Swooping him into her arms and rushing him back to the house. Once she put him down, she also dropped the basket that contained vegetables that he presumed what she bought from the market and went outside only to ask for apologies for the neighbors that he had frightened.

The carriage passed by. He could tell with all the shouts of the people outside. He couldn't bear to bring himself to the window and look at the royal family, for he feared that the angry faces would meet him if he attempted to.

The door opened to reveal his mother coming inside as if she had a very long day at work with the way that she sighed in relief. She turned to look at him with that very soft expression she had whenever she put him to bed. That was how he knew, that she was not infuriated with him. If it were his dad that caught the scene, he knew that he would be scolding him greatly.

She kneeled down to his level, gently tucking the loose strands of hair in his ear asking him if he was all right and if they had hurt him. He shook his head no and avoided his mother's gaze. They hadn't even laid a finger on him, but for some reason, there was a heavy feeling on his chest. At that time, it came to light to him, that pain didn't necessarily equate to just a physical contact.

His mother understood him perfectly and pretty soon was hugging him tightly, soothing him all the while. Everything's okay, you're safe now. She said.

After that incident, a rumor that it was a very dangerous illness might have spread throughout the neighbors that they avoided him immensely. There were even hearsays that what was on his skin was a result of supernatural happening. Black magic. They insisted. Ridiculous as it sounded, a number of people believed it to be true. Even after the red blotches on his skin had already gone away, their impression that he was a dangerous boy did not.

Just because of that illness, he became an outcast. Disgusted and frightened stares were always fixated at him whenever he went out of the house. It upset him so much that he just wanted to scream that nothing was wrong with him. He has not done anything harmful to them that he did purposely. Black magic, they say? It appeared more that their neighbors were under that horrid spell, rather than him.

He rarely left the house after that. These people around them, they were really cruel.

He convinced himself that he really didn't need friends. His mother and his father were more than enough.

Then that afternoon took place.

He was seven when he went with mother to the market. She had offered to buy him something, a toy or a book perhaps. He didn't really mind not having one, because it meant that he had to tag along, but she insisted that he come with her so he could step out of the house once in a while, saying that he was always sheltered in their home. He wanted to retort that she couldn't blame him, for there were real-life witches outside their house, but she didn't take no for an answer. Brushing his woolen brown clothing gently, they set out to the town plaza.

It didn't seem to be a bad idea at first, since he felt perfectly fine walking around the market and seeing new things. To him, this was really an interesting sight since it was his first time going to the market. It was a lively place. People were shouting and flailing their hands so as to make the customers interested in what they were selling. A lot of stuff that he had not seen or heard before were being sold in the market. Fruits, vegetables, meat, they passed that lane and he couldn't help but feel hungry at that sight.

The chess set that he had only read in books, he finally saw it for the first time. It was exactly how he had pictured it. There were all sorts of dolls for girls made from wood, clay, wax or cloth. For the boys, there were kites, balls, boats and wooden weapons as well. There were also stick horses that he saw some kids have been playing with the other day.

As he walked with his mother hand in hand, the vendors would often bring the toys closer to his face, and then turn to his mother, in the hopes that she would buy it for him. But whenever his mother asked him whether he would like to have one, he would shake his head no. In truth, with so many choices, he could not even decide!

His mother let go of his hand for a moment. She was deciding on buying the some kitchenware but could not decide if it was worth her coins. The vendor, in an effort to make some sales, told her that she could touch and examine the kitchenware.

She was so focused in scanning the tool that was on her hand, and it took a while that he was starting to get restless. He wanted to walk around the market some more.

He looked around, trying to amuse himself and distract him from his impatience. A crowd was gathering at the other end of the street. He didn't know what it was but it seemed pretty exciting. A boy that was near him dragged his own mother to where the commotion was. A group of kids his age were also hurriedly running to that direction as well.

He also wanted to go there. But when he tried to call his mother's attention, she was still too busy in scrutinizing the kitchenware and he could not comprehend why it took her so long when almost everything in the table looked almost the same.

It made it so impossible to ask his mother now. Figuring that he would just take a look by himself, he walked towards where the uproar was. Taking another step with his old leather shoes, he turned back and was relieved that his mom was still on that certain booth. He looked at both ends of the street for there might be carriage and horses that could run him over. When the coast was clear, he made a run for it.

Hurriedly, he managed to peek even with the number of people that was already blocking his view. This took him so much effort since he wasn't really tall in the first place.

Finally, he saw what everyone was fussing about, from what he read in the books that his father gave him, it was one of those ways of entertaining people in the town plaza. A puppet show!

There was a big wooden box, a size of an adult person that was painted with very bright and intricate colors as if to entice the people to watch. It had a rectangular hole right in the middle, the curtains were pulled to the side of the hole, and he knew that the show was going on.

Swaying gracefully while restricted to that small hole, the marionettes, also crafted by wood, continued to tell a story. It was a tale about a princess, knight and a dragon, fire breathing at that! Even in the books that his father asks him to read, some of them have a part where the four-legged beast makes it difficult for the protagonist to save the day. This was more amusing for him though, since with this puppet show, he didn't have a hard time imagining all the scenes of the story in his head since it was all laid out for him.

The tale continued. It seemed that the dragon caught the princess by wrecking into her palace. Although it wasn't for long, since the gallant knight, in his white horse galloped to the abandoned tower where the giant lizard refuged.

He wasn't able finish the tale as there was an accusing finger pointed at him, which distracted everyone that was trying to enjoy the show. It was the son of one of their neighbors.

"It's Athrun! Our dangerous neighbor!" His eyes were wide open, as if he saw a very different creature amongst them. "He's been cursed by black magic before!" He exclaimed while trying to show to the other people around them his utter disgust at his sudden appearance.

The confusion was evident in the faces of those who surrounded him. Unsure whether they should believe the words of a young boy, or to be concerned about what the kid claimed.

He could not even defend himself, even though he knew that these people were very much mistaken. It wasn't true. The part of him having the sickness was, but the rest, those are all merciless lies!

He was not dangerous at all; he didn't bring harm to the families near their homes. He had not been unlucky enough to be cursed by black magic! Besides, even though he was still a kid, he knew that an occurrence such, as 'Black Magic' did not exist. It was just how grown-ups tried to give explanation to things they did not know the answer to. It was an easy escape. After all, they refused to admit that they did not know the answer to a child's question.

"It's true!" The neighbor's son continued to convince them to stick to their former inclination. "His skin was full of red dots!"

"That reminds me," A spectator voiced out his thoughts, loud enough for everyone to hear. "… didn't the elderly tell us that those red blotches meant that something bad happened to the child affected?"

"That's right! So does it mean that this kid really is…" Another one sounded as if he was encouraging others to think that way.

"Cursed!"

"He's dangerous!"

"He must be!"

"They're right!"

"Stay away from him!"

A cacophony of voices that mistaken was all that he could hear. He then felt the agonizing stares of the people around him. The people around him started to distance themselves, fearing that they might be plagued with the same bad luck. There it was again, that feeling that people didn't want him around.

He couldn't remember who it was, but someone pushed him to the ground. There was a lot of clamor happening around him, and he had no idea what to do.

Tears were now threatening to fall from his eyes. It was a wrong decision to go on his own, without his mother. Or what if he wore a hat to disguise his face and to hide his hair, since the midnight blue shade was not hard to miss.

"You should just leave this town, you bedeviled soul!"

At that exact moment, she came into the picture.

"Stop right there!" A high-pitched tone from a little girl resonated throughout the crowd. Everyone stopped in scrutinizing the young lad and turned to the direction of where the voice came from. He also shifted his attention to the person who he deemed as his lifesaver.

His mouth instinctively opened wide when he saw her. It was a girl that appeared to be the same age as him. She was dressed in attire that he had never seen before. The fabric of the dress that she was wearing was a bright and a light shade of green as opposed to the dark-colored clothing that all of the people in the marketplace wore, that he figured that she was not from this place. Her blonde hair elegantly dropped just above her shoulder, complimenting her angelic face and hazel eyes. Who was this girl?

In contrast to him that looked like a wimp by helplessly lying on the floor, she carried herself in a very dignified manner. Her head was proudly held high, and he could feel her radiating her beaming presence in this crowd.

As she walked towards him, surprisingly, the people that surrounded him were making way for her by stepping backwards, he knew that it was not because they were frightened of him and the so-called curse, but because of this girl. She had a dominating aura around her, some of them were already kneeling down and he wondered why they did.

"Are you alright?" She held out her hand for him to take. He shook his head, telling her with his gestures that he was fine, that she didn't need to worry. But with her hand still lingering near his face, he knew that she wasn't convinced. Honestly, he didn't want to put his trust on her, but seeing that it was the only option for him right now, he obliged himself to do so. His hand finally made contact with hers and she pulled her up and stepped forward as if she was hiding him behind her.

Still holding his hand in hers, she opened her mouth again to talk, not to him, but to those that were picking on him a while ago. "You all are so mean! Why are you all being such bullies to this poor boy?" They remained quiet still when she scolded them. It was really a mystery to him that this girl could just say whatever she wanted to say and got away with it. Not even one person in this crowd told her to shut her mouth or to even treat her similar to how they treated him just a few moments ago.

When no one had the guts to stand up and explain why they did, she started to talk on the defensive side again. "Those red blotches that you were talking about, isn't because a witch cursed him! That isn't even true! The doctor that treated my dad before told me that it was called 'chickenpox' and that it was normal for a kid to have one!"

"We're very sorry!" One of the spectators apologized; his eyes looking away in humiliation, bowing his head lower all the more. Most of the people that glared at him a while ago all appeared ashamed with that they have done.

"Let's get out of here." She stated, pulling him with her. He did not even have the time to protest, partly because she was already dragging him out of the area of the crowd that tormented him just a few minutes back, but mostly, he felt like she would not take 'no' for an answer.

He was really grateful that this girl came in the nick of time. If she didn't, then something worse must have happened to him other than the shove that he got. What motivated her to even do that for him, he did not know.

He stayed silent as they continued to walk hand in hand. With the silence, his thoughts raced wildly. This mysterious, yet radiant girl coming to save him from the horrifying crowd, he wanted to get to know her more. He wanted to ask her a lot of things, to ask her why she did that, to ask where she came from, and maybe to ask if they can play after this, but even so, he could not even utter a word out. How contradictory it felt.

She kept dragging him to someplace that he did not even recognize. If this happened some other time, he might have been scared that a stranger was bringing him somewhere else. There was also something inside of him threatening to burst, and this wasn't like the time his mother rescued him from the angry crowd two years ago. This was different.

Happy. Yes that was what it was.

He was happy that even though she didn't even know him personally, she had stood out for him like she did. She even went as far as saying that the people were 'mean', which in his opinion, was very true. They were incredibly so, to the point that the only good people for him were his father and mother, with the way that other people treated him harshly.

But this girl, on the other hand, she was really kind. This unusual warmth that she showed to him, made him feel so much elated. Maybe she was the first person to treat him so kindly even when it wasn't even her obligation.

Why did she even do that? What did it matter to her anyway?

Even so, he felt very happy.

It was strange, the sensation that he was feeling. He wanted to cry and thank her senselessly, but refused to look even weaker than he appeared to be a while ago, seeing that he was the boy and she was the girl in this situation. He had to appear tougher, like the knights that he had read in his books.

When she let go of his hand, his mind stopped from wandering. He was surprised to find out that they had made their way out of the buzzing flea market. She sat down on one of the logs that was near them and motioned him to do the same. He said nothing, and took the seat next to her. He was able to feel the fabric of her dress; it bested even the nicest garment that his mother bought him. This girl that swayed her legs as she sat down this same log, maybe she was a daughter of one of the rich families around?

"But really, they're unbelievable! How could they even say and do such things to you?" Her hand was messing her hair out of annoyance. "And they really believe in witchcraft? What a joke! Even I know that witches don't exist! Sometimes grown-ups make children believe all these crazy things. Don't they?"

He nodded. He could not believe that she felt the same way that he did, although the difference lied in how she was more outspoken and braver than he could ever be, since all he could do was to remain quiet and let the people say all those bad things to him.

"Well, I guess you shouldn't really mind them." She advised him. "They don't really understand."

He sighed in defeat; he had been doing that for a long time now. It had been two years and their view hasn't changed even a tad bit.

When he was not talking, she was the one to started to engage in a conversation with him. "Do they…" Her voice trailed off, almost hesitating to whether she should continue or not, but she did anyway. Her hands were fiddling with the hems of her dress. "…always treat you that way?"

"Yes." He finally said a word to her. "Ever since I got had those red blotches on my skin two years ago. I was always avoided by everyone and when they saw me, they start to run away and feel afraid, which was why I stayed at home most of the time."

"But you had siblings to play with? Didn't you?" She chimed in, carrying her optimistic outlook on everything.

But he shook his head no.

"I see…" She shook her head, feeling sad with that knowledge that he wasn't treated well for a very long time, just because of something that wasn't really his fault. If she was in his position, she knew she'd feel lonely as well knowing that people don't want to be around her.

"Mother and father played with me though, when they had free time." He told her as if he was trying to console himself. The solitary expression never left his face though and she wanted to do something about that. She wanted him to lighten up a bit.

He gave her a queer look. They weren't even friends, and yet, she was planning to tell her something that should only be shared with people close to her. "You're going to tell me?"

She shook her head enthusiastically while flashing him a smile. "Of course!" With that, he felt his cheeks getting warmer. What was that all about? Was it because of the cute expression she just showed to him? Looking back at those days, he didn't know why he harbored that kind of sensation within him.

"But promise me, you're not going to make fun of me too, okay?" She held out her pinky finger to him, pouting when she did, while he just sat there, having no knowledge of what that even meant.

Sensing that he was unable to comprehend what she was trying to do, she grabbed his hand, folding his fingers to his palm, leaving his smallest finger untouched.

He felt his face getting hot again. Was this due to the contact with this girl? His mother always held his hand all the time, but never did he experience this bizarre feeling.

Wrapping her pinky finger in his, she finally said. "This is called a pinky promise. When you do this with another person, it means that you must never ever break the promise you made! Ever! Never ever! Okay? Or else, bad luck will come to strike you for life!" Her beautiful eyes were full of fire, burning with tenacity.

He nodded, finally understanding what she meant. Also frightened by the thought of having bad luck for the rest of his life, he gulped nervously. "Okay then. I pinky promise."

With that, she seemed satisfied and put her hands back on her lap. "So a few months ago, I had those red and itchy marks all over my skin, which the doctor told us that I had caught chickenpox…"

Chickenpox. So that was what it was. It wasn't black magic or anything like the neighbors have been telling him. She then explained how she even got the disease. So it was the same as his, he thought. For a few weeks, she was also not allowed to get near anyone because she might infect him or her, but after that everything was back to normal. She could play again, which was very different from what happened to him. He listened intently to every word that she told him, including how she got better, noting every detail so he knew what to do if, in any case, he gets chickenpox again.

She talked a lot, he noticed. But he actually did not mind. In fact, he was glad that she had so much to say. He was the type that was good at listening and bad at talking to begin with anyway.

"Were you able to watch the puppet show a while ago?" She asked out of nowhere. He marveled at how fast she was able to switch the topic of their conversation so easily.

He nodded. "I wasn't able to finish it though." His voice had the hint of sadness yet again. If it weren't for his neighbor that recognized him, he might have been able to enjoy and finish the show.

She became serious with that response of his, before talking again. "It's okay if you weren't able to watch all of it! But what was it about?" She inquired. Underneath the thin strands of hair that made their way to her face, he could see her eyes glinting of curiosity.

He looked idly at the fair market that was far from them and spoke in a low and reserved voice, since he did not want the pitch of his voice higher than hers. "The princess was abducted by a humongous dragon! It flew away even before she was rescued." He couldn't control his enthusiasm even though he wanted to. It was his first time to see that kind of show anyway.

"Princess?" He gave him a queer look, but didn't say anything further. To him, this was the cue to continue talking.

He nodded his head rapidly. "Then the kingdom was in a state of panic and fright, that was when a brave knight volunteered to save her. 'I will bring back the princess' he said, then rode off in a big horse to the forbidden tower where the dragon lived."

She had on an intrigued look on her face then. "Did the knight defeat the dragon and save the princess?"

He was about to open his mouth to respond to her, but a large and deep voice cut in.

"Princess!"

The girl beside him stopped talking, her eyes widened all the while. Was she… He looked at her, almost as if he was asking her to tell her, what that meant.

"There you are! I've been looking for you everywhere!" Standing before them, was a man that was even taller than his father. His grey hair was long and past his shoulder. He had on quilted coat and linen underpants. He was so large that he blocked the view of the town that he was looking at.

"Oh no! I've been caught!" She stuck her tongue out and appeared to have an expression that was same with what he had on whenever his mom caught him eating the cookies that she told him not to. It seemed like she was in a big trouble.

"What have you been up to?" The large man folded his arms and let out a huff of annoyance. "You told me that you'd stick close to me when we get here. I just buy some fruits and you've run off on your own."

"I'm sorry Kisaka." She scratched her hand and laughed nervously as if she was trying to lessen his anger. "I saw a puppet show and went to it, then me and my friend walked over here to have a seat."

Friend? Did she really mean that? That he was her friend? He could feel weird things in his stomach now, like something was fluttering inside. And this was not because his stomach was aching or anything.

The gigantic man just sighed in defeat. "You're really unruly, Princess, as always." To this, she just flashed him a smile.

"Well then, let's go back to the castle." He turned and was walked away.

His jaw dropped in surprise. This girl beside him was actually the Princess? Maybe that was why all the people around him a while ago couldn't even start a fight with her or even shout at her. That was why they were all backing away from her when she walked. How she walked ever so proudly with her head held high. Her beautiful clothing… How this man called her the 'princess' and told her that they would go back to the castle… Everything was summing up now.

This girl was a royal blood.

"Do we really have to?" She whined and pouted.

"Yes." Kisaka told her firmly and turned towards them again. "You have to get dressed for the party. You were given permission by your father to come to the market, but on the condition that you return for the preparations." He reminded her.

"So we have to go, right now? Can't we leave after a few minutes?" She asked him, hoping that he would allow that she sit a bit longer with him.

"Unfortunately we cannot." He shook his head. "We are a bit delayed in fact, because you ran off and it took me a while to find you."

She huffed and wanted to complain more, but realizing that it was futile, she finally stood up from the log. "I get it. I'll return to the castle."

But she turned back to where he was seated and very much confused. "I'm sorry, we have to go back now." She said to him, looking very disappointed that she couldn't stay longer. She turned to her left, then to her right, searching for words to say so as to make their farewell a good one.

"Ah I know!" Her expression then lit up. Her hands grabbed a hold of the necklace that adorned her neck and shoulder. With one quick swoop, she took it off; shaking her head when the thin thread of rope went passed her blonde hair.

He was not able to say anything when the necklace made it's way to his neck. "Take this." She said with a bright smile. "It's a stone amulet of Haumea. It'll protect you from danger!"

"Thank you…" He finally managed to say. His hand made its way to the amulet and took a look at it. It was a purple stone, shining ever so beautifully.

"I'm Cagalli." She took his hand without him expecting it and shook it enthusiastically. "You?"

"Athrun…" He managed to give her a sheepish smile and let her shake his hand as he pleased.

The man cleared his throat out of impatience. To which she realized that she was taking too long and ran to him. "Okay then, goodbye Athrun! I hope we can meet again! Then we can play." She bid him her parting words and rushed over to the large man.

They started to walk away and his eyes still was glued on him. He didn't know what to do and stayed put. Observing her from afar, walking farther away, he could not help but feel a bit down. Although she parted with those words, he was not certain if he would see her ever again. Would she come to the market again? But what if she came and he wasn't there? And of course, he knew that going to the castle to visit her was something that he could not do. The chances of being able to see her were very low, better yet, nearly impossible. He was saddened by the thought.

She then turned back to where he was. "Hope we can see each other again sometime soon! And remember, not all princesses need saving!" She giggled and ran to where the man called Kisaka was headed to, followed by a number of men dressed the same way.

He was about to raise his hand to wave back when another voice startled him.

"Athrun!"

It was his mother, looking very worried as she ran to where he was. Only then it occurred to him that he actually sneaked away from his mother to watch the puppet show for a bit but ended up seated in the log. She put down her basket, which contained all the goods he figured she bought. "I was looking for you everywhere!" She enclosed him into a hug and he could feel her heart beating wildly. It was no lie that she must have walked and ran to search for him. She was panting too. "Where have you been?"

Instead of answering her, which was the normal thing to have been done, he pointed his fingers to where the little girl was. "Is that the princess?" Of course he had to make sure.

She breathed deeply before answering him, he figured that she was also trying to see whether it was true or not. "You're right honey! That is the princess!" Her voice was full of amazement after a few seconds. "To think that she came here to the market today, what a very down-to-earth and cute little girl!"

He wanted to nod in agreement, but refrained from doing so. There was some other thing that made him curious, Kisaka and those other brawny men. "Who are those people with her?"

She let go of the hug and was caressing his head lovingly. "Oh those are knights of the princess honey. They protect the princess from harm."

"Protect her from harm…" He repeated his mother's words. "Those knights protect the Princess…"

"Yes." She nodded and gave him a smile and retrieved the basket from the ground. "Let's go home honey?"

He nodded and held her warm hand. On the way home, he kept thinking about it, about his encounter with the princess. His free hand made its way to where the Haumea amulet was, his fingertips carefully feeling the cool stone. Her words were starting to flood back like she was in front of him, saying it to him again.

"_Stop right there!"_

"_You all are so mean! Why are you all being such bullies to this poor boy?"_

"_It's a stone amulet of Haumea. It'll protect you from danger."_

She was a girl with a pure heart, he was certain of that. No matter how much he thought about it, she really went out of her way even when she had no obligation to do that for him. A peasant like him did not deserve that treatment, especially from the royal princess. But he had to point out that it seemed like she was the ray of hope in the sea of those mean people.

Officially too, she was his first friend. The first one who ever approached him and thought of him that way.

Even to the extent of giving him her amulet.

He wanted to do something for her, to return the favor. This was not because he felt like he was indebted to her with all that she had done for her. It was really nothing of the sort. As his friend, he also wanted to do something nice for her.

"_Not all princess need saving!"_

Then it hit him.

Those knights! His mother just told him that they protect the princess. He didn't see why he couldn't do that for her. After all, if he became a knight, then he'll be able to be with her all the time. A while ago, he had a hard time thinking about how he could see her again, and this was perfect.

"Mother…" He called her attention first. They were on their way home, crossing the streets and walking on the dusty ground. With the few people that were near them, he became cautious of saying what was on his mind.

"Yes honey?" His mother's ever so gentle voice, responded.

"Can I be a knight?" He asked bluntly.

He could feel her pause for a moment, taking in what he just said to her. "Hmm, a knight, honey? You mean like those men that were around the princess?" She waved to a friend that she saw and turned to him again.

He nodded. "Yes. I want to be like those men." It was with conviction.

"I don't see why not." She said.

Obviously, he took that permission seriously.

A smile crept up to his face again. It was one of his favorite childhood memories. That moment on, his outlook in life became more positive. Ever since that incident in the market, the people were treating him normally again, and he even started to make friends. No one ever brought up the issue of the chickenpox. So the princess' words made them realize just how harsh they were.

Now that he thought about it, if he did not even meet her that day, would he even be happy right now? Would he have friends that he could talk and laugh with? Would he even have confidence in himself?

That meeting with her was the start of the pursuit his dream. That fateful encounter in the market was all he needed to know what he wanted to become.

Her knight.

He knew that it was a hard journey to get there, there were a lot of things that he needed to sacrifice, time and effort that he needed to exert and determination to keep him going. There was a lot of rigorous training that he had to undergo. Fun and enjoyable moments that he had to forego to concentrate on becoming the perfect knight.

It was really going to be difficult, he knew, but everything that is worth it, never comes easy.

To become the Princess' knight, to always be by her side was the thing that he wanted the most.

In the dark, he lay in his mattress as he pondered upon it. This was probably the reason behind the sleepless nights. Becoming the Princess' knight… He could not get it out of his head. The urge to fulfill the dream was getting stronger and stronger each day. It made burned him that he could not be her knight even when he'd gladly volunteer himself any day. Things just didn't work that way. There were certain procedures that he had to abide with to warrant that kind of title.

When the royal family passed the streets, all he wanted to do was to go to her and start a conversation. Surely, she had a lot of things that she would tell him, and he would listen to all of it. He also desired to walk to her, along the path that she would take. He wanted to make sure that no danger would come near her. But of course, being the commoner that he was, he could not those things without creating a scene. He didn't want that, especially if it meant causing the Princess an inconvenience.

He could only look at her from afar, just like every other person with him there to have even just a glance of the royal family. Her blonde hair barely reaching past her shoulders was as bright as the sun. Her hazel eyes full of life and warmth that even the coldest bone of a person could never win against it. The way she moved elegantly in her carriage and the movement of her hand as she waved to the people outside made all the men swoon and wish that they were of some royal descent just so they could be at par with her. All the women and girls wanted to be like her; they idolized her so much that they refer to her as the "Goddess".

The queer thing was that he always thought about her. Ever since the day that he had met her. It just wasn't because of the inclination to feel indebted to what she had done for him. He knew somehow that it encompassed all that.

Her breathtaking and enthusiastic smile always etched on his mind. Her kind disposition never failed to give him a warm and happy feeling. The memory of that certain day in his childhood made him want to relive it again and again. It was crazy. For him, seeing her was the highlight of his days. When he did, he could not help but notice how she was getting more and more beautiful. There was also this hot feeling rising to his face and he could feel the beating of his heart becoming more and more rapid.

He tried to shrug it off, but failed. He could not ignore that feeling, not when his mind was always on the princess.

Everyday he would train. He would train in their backyard with a long stick, flinging it back and forth like a sword while imagining enemies trying to attack him. He would have sparring with his friends that dreamt of being knights as well. He would volunteer to carry buckets of water for their neighbors everyday, just so he could become stronger. He also took a run everyday to make his stamina stronger.

His father let him use their horse sometimes to let him practice. His mother on the other hand, would always cook something up for him to refill his empty stomach so that he could concentrate better. It was a good thing that his parents were both supportive of his desire to become a knight.

Of course he didn't stop reading books. He knew that the only way to be good enough to become the Princess' knight was when he had both brawns and brains. He always borrowed books from the town library, trying to finish as much as he can during his free time. From logic to science to literature, he read all that he could, even when he did not have a liking to the subject matter.

Knowing that it would help him become more knowledgeable and to add to his credibility, he enrolled in a school. It was hard on their family, to make ends meet and shoulder the expenses, but since he was such a diligent student, they pay less than what the nobles pay.

Now that he thought of it, he did have classes today. He hoped that he would not doze off though.

"Wait for me, Princess Cagalli." He muttered to himself, as sat down his warm mattress, seeing that it was almost time to prepare for school and to do his morning exercise. Inwardly, he wished that his words would reach her. "I'll become a knight so I can protect you."

Little did he know that fate was pulling the strings.

A/N: Done! How was it? Review please!


	2. Savior

A/N: Hi all! Finally posting the latest chapter of this fic! Is the title okay? I could not think of any other title for it, so it might sound so cliché!

To the reviewers of the previous chapter, thank you all for taking the time to review! **Nemui Neko-chan**, **CagalliYulaZala**, **Guest**, **CagalliZala**, **pansy25**, **Ryuukou**, **FTS-Peace**, **Andhera** and **falconrukichi**! :)

Back to the fic!

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed/Destiny.

Chapter 2: Savior

It was a very serene morning. These were the kinds of mornings she loved waking up to. She just finished eating breakfast when she went outside. The birds were up and about, fluttering around the trees and the sky, chirping a very lively tune. The breeze was giving the leaves of the trees a light rustle as some fell to the ground. The scent of the flowers around the bushes and shrubs were also adding to the refreshing feel.

The princess sat down on the legged chair that was made with marble in the palace garden, feeling the warmth of the sun's rays on her face and the flesh that her dress was not able to cover. It was definitely a good day to start reading the new book that she had. If only no one was watching her, she would prefer to lie down on the grass as she read, or even just sit on the ground and lean on the trees, but her ladies-in-waiting strongly advised her not to soil her dress, as they would be receiving royal visitors from the neighboring kingdom in the afternoon.

She inhaled deeply and adjusted herself comfortably in the marble chair, before tearing her eyes away from the beautiful sight to focus on the book that she had in her hands. Leafing through the first few pages gently, she then immersed herself in reading.

_Divina Commedia_ was the name of the written work that she was reading. It was something that her tutor had given her to read. It is one of the greatest literatures of our time, she remember him saying. With the manner that he unconsciously delved into the topic when they were discussing literature, how passionate and lively his tone was and the length of time that he spent talking about it, it sparked her interest a lot to the point that she had wanted to read it as well.

When she had asked him if she could read the book, her teacher was hesitant at first. Her tutor was not in favor of the idea for he was worried that her father might not like it that he was teaching him these kinds of things. Her father was a pious man and it may enrage him that he was lending her those kinds of books. She shook her head no, so as to reassure him that her father would not suddenly get deranged if he finds out. It was all about life after death, he discouraged her, but failed to do so as it made her all the more eager. She was very persistent that he had no choice but to give her a copy of the book.

The literary work was written in the form of poems, which was something that she really did not fancy. It did not amuse her to read such kinds of works. But since she took it upon herself to read this book upon her curiosity and constantly persuaded her tutor to give her this, she might as well go on with it. She continued to read until she managed to read a few pages.

Even when she found it really challenging, she actually understood the poem. It was about a man, his life almost halfway done, getting lost in the dark wood. As if that wasn't bad enough, beasts were actually chasing the man as well. She mentally gave herself a pat on the back for the good work she did. Maybe poetry wasn't that bad at all.

She found herself getting enraptured as she read on further. The man could not avoid the three beasts that were chasing after him and he was getting farther and deeper into the woods and to the place where the sun no longer shines on. His life was really in peril. What would happen to him? All the more that she wanted to know if he makes it out alive or if he dies. But then again it was just the first few pages of the book. He could not have died, but what was more interesting was how he even survived.

"Princess Cagalli..." Unfortunately, one of her ladies-in-waiting cautiously called out to her, cutting the wholehearted attention that she had on reading. To this, she paused briefly by holding the page in her fingers to look up.

"What is it Meyrin?" She had to admit, she did not like being disturbed, especially when she was engrossed reading a book. But knowing Meyrin, she knew that it was her pet peeve, she figured that this had to be something that was important.

"His Highness, King Uzumi, is looking for you. He says that there is something that he needs to discuss with you." She bowed her head down low apologetically. Her red hair slowly followed the movement of her head.

To this, the princess gave her a light smile, reassuring her that she wasn't aggravated by the disturbance. Meyrin was always so nervous with a lot of things, and Cagalli could not help but wonder why she still has not gotten used to her even after a year of being her lady-in-waiting.

"Where's father right now?" She asked her, to which Meyrin answered that he was at the dining hall. Handing the book that she was reading for safekeeping, she walked back inside the palace to go to her father.

She strode on the marble halls, looking down at her feet all the while. It had been a long time since she was introduced to these two inconvenient pair of footwear, but every time she wore one, it always felt like it was the first time. She then wondered if there was really a need for these kinds of things, when all it did was to make women's lives harder. The shoes that didn't have these so-called 'heels' were fine and of course, way more comfortable. She couldn't even walk straight with these! And her feet hurt a lot after removing them!

Natarle, her teacher when it came to proper princess etiquette, often told her that only a privileged few were given a chance to wear this kind of fancy footwear. It was something that most women dream to adorn their foot with. With these, she should look more captivating and charming for men and women alike. Cagalli did not respond to that, but deep down, she completely disagreed. She could not even understand why other women would describe this intolerable footwear like that! For her, what it did was to make women's lives more miserable as they had to withstand the pain while wearing it. Even though she was also a girl, she could not understand the logic of these styles at times.

She could hear giggles coming from her ladies-in-waiting, who were just behind her, following her wherever she wished to go. As usual, these two were having their dose of laughter whenever she was moved so stiff and clumsily when she was all dolled-up.

Looking back at Meyrin and Lunamaria, she gave them both a threatening glare, without any serious attempt for violence. "Don't laugh! I'm struggling here!" She pouted, feeling embarrassed that she could not even walk elegantly like the other princesses that she had met in parties before. They were all so graceful, while she was the complete opposite. Heck, she bet that these two siblings that were stifling their laughter could act more elegantly than she ever will.

Natarle would scold her yet again if she even sees her like this. Cagalli knew that it would only take time for her teacher in etiquette to lose her patience with her. Whenever they had lessons, Natarle would always cover her eyes due to her irritancy and disbelief that the princess was very hard to teach. But, she was trying her best though. She just couldn't be the type of prim and proper princess that everyone wanted her to be.

After a few more steps, she decided to stop in her tracks. She was not in the dining hall yet, that was very far from where they currently were. Now that she thought about it, why was it even so far away? These heels make walks feel longer than it is supposed to be. 

"Princess, is everything okay?" Lunamaria now went by her side, with a concerned look on her face. She might have thought that she stopped because she was getting irked at them already.

Instead of answering her, she plopped down to the floor, much to the surprise of her two ladies-in-waiting. She shuffled through the many ruffles and layers of her dress and finally got a hold of her foot. With two swift moves, her feet were finally relieved from the pain of the shoes. She could feel the pleasurable sensation her feet were in right now. At last, they were set free!

"Princess!" Both siblings covered their mouths in shock of what she just did, to which she returned them a grin. They quickly looked around to see if someone saw it happen.

"The two of you, just relax." Cagalli told them. She wanted them to take it easy. She knew perfectly that whenever she wasn't observing the etiquette, Natarle would also scold the both of them, as she insists that it is also their responsibility as the Princess' ladies-in-waiting to ensure that the Princess should always observe fitting manners.

But her teacher was not here right now, was she? "No one is going to tell Natarle about this, okay? My feet just really hurt! Look at this!" She stretched her legs against the velvet carpet on the castle floors for them to see that she was already getting blisters from wearing those shoes.

The two of them nodded in distress, seeing how bad the condition of the Princess' feet was and agreed on letting her walk barefoot. They offered to treat the blisters first before proceeding to the dining hall, but Cagalli insisted that they should not keep her father waiting much longer. With Meyrin holding the book she was reading a few minutes ago, and Lunamaria holding the pair of pristine white shoes, they continued to walk to the dining hall. Cagalli was thankful that they were holding her things for her, as it was hard enough for her to hold up the dress that she was wearing. She kept stepping on it as well!

Finally, they reached the door to the dining hall. Lunamaria lay down the shoes on the ground in front of her feet and she put them on, hissing when she felt her blisters getting in the way again. Before she even entered, she stood up straight and tried to exude the aura that she had been walking with poise to the dining hall wearing the shoes all along.

A few seconds later, the door then opened to reveal his father fully relaxed in his chair, having a cup of tea, his favorite earl grey, she presumed. He looked at the view of the town that could be seen outside their humongous glass windows. From the minute she saw him, she could tell that he was not in a good mood. But instead of an angry atmosphere surrounding him, it was something else, more of sadness perhaps?

"Father?" She called out to get his attention, seeing that he still did not remove his gaze away from the windows.

He seemed to have been shaken by that and he turned to look at his daughter approaching him. He regained his composure as he readied himself to be given a hug by Cagalli. "Hello Cagalli dear." He squeezed the arms that were around him. "How was your morning?"

Lifting her head up and letting go of the hug, she responded cheerfully. "It was good! I was just in the garden, reading a book."

"That's nice." Her father nodded, getting the cup of tea from the table and taking a very slow sip from it. "What book were you reading?"

Surely, he could not have called here in the dining hall just to ask her that? Cagalli figured that her father was starting another small talk before even mentioning what he wanted to say to her.

"You wanted to talk to me about something?" She sat down on the chair that was nearest to him, avoiding the question of the book. For one, he might not like what she was reading. But more importantly, she wanted to know what he was calling her for.

He got the napkin from the table and gently tapping it on his mouth in case there were traces of tea. "Yes dear. I actually want to talk to you about your knight, Kisaka."

She gave him a clueless expression when she heard her knight's name. "Kisaka? What about him?" That reminded her, she has not seen him for two days already. Did he forget to tell her that he would be on some sort of trip? Or did he tell her; she was just the one that forgot? Impossible! She would have remembered if she knew!

Maybe her father sent him out on a mission? But if he did, didn't that defeat the purpose of being her personal knight? Since, in theory, being her personal knight meant that he should always be near her, looking out for her when she got herself into trouble.

If it weren't for the sound of the teacup's landing on the saucer, her thoughts would have drifted so far away. Her father cleared his throat and then slowly turned to look at her, almost as if he was unsure whether he should speak or not. She sat there, waiting in silence.

More seconds ticked away and she was getting more and more nervous. His silence was not very comforting at all. What could it be about Kisaka that he wanted to talk about? Was it a good thing or a bad thing?

Her father's quietness ensued, until she could no longer take it anymore. She wanted to pull her hair out in impatience or to bang her head on the table. This was truly antagonizing her.

Deciding that it was best that she persuade him to say something, she initiated yet again. "Father, what is it? Please tell me! Why did you want to talk to me about Kisaka? Did something happen?" It was almost in a demanding tone, but of course, notwithstanding the hint of respect that she felt for her father. She could feel her ladies-in-waiting being surprised by this as well. But she could not help that the words somehow came out that way, as she was getting impatient.

"Kisaka…" He finally started to speak.

"Kisaka?" She urged him to continue.

"…can no longer fulfill the duties that is needed for Knight of the Princess." The words came out of his mouth faster than he had expected.

What was that?

Did he just say that about Kisaka? He could no longer fulfill the duty that is needed for the Princess' Knight?

At first, she continued to look at her father, trying to make sense of what he just said to her. She heard him wrong, right? It was something that she might have misheard. Her ears seem to have a hearing problem. He would not say that he was unfit to be a Knight? After all, that was very much impossible! That must be the case! She tried to convince herself that.

She was in a great shock. Her father could tell just by looking at the expression on her face. He tried to give her a moment to recompose herself, but when she was not responding, he repeated the words again. "Kisaka can no longer be your knight, Cagalli…" He told her in a very unhappy tone.

So she had heard him right.

Her eyes widened, unable to believe what she was hearing. "Kisaka can no longer be my knight?" She repeated the words again and again, but it still didn't sum up. It did not even sound right! How could that even be? "What do you mean by this Father? How come? Why?" She was bombarding him with a lot of questions that his father did not know how to even begin in answering her question.

She could not understand why her father was telling her these things. Kisaka was such a great Knight! He always manages to keep her out of trouble and always looks out for her so much. He's kind, strong, dependable and very much capable of protecting her. He has been around ever since she was a kid, that's why she considered him as family. He could not do anything that was against the code of the chivalry! He is a Knight with integrity. So what her father was saying to her now, she knew that it was just impossible! She refused to accept it.

"Cagalli…" Sensing her uneasiness and her violent reaction, her father got a hold of her hand and squeezed it. "Calm down. It's not like Kisaka did something disgraceful. I know too that he cannot do anything of the sort. It's not about that. Still, he can longer be here in the castle."

It felt like the energy and happiness that she was felt a while ago were all going down the drain. "Then why Father?" The feeling of sadness was overwhelming her. Kisaka had been with her for such a long time that she could not imagine now that he was going to be away for good. "Father, why?" She asked, with desperation very evident in her voice.

Sighing in defeat, he started to explain. "Kisaka did not want me to tell you this, but since he is your Knight and you have a right to know, I will tell you why." He paused for a brief moment before speaking again. Cagalli sat up straight, her body tensing up, preparing for the worst.

"He has a rare illness." He finally explained to her, the truth now crashing upon her on this fine morning. "His illness is something that was reported to me by my men the other day. People from the other town have caught this disease, causing their body to weaken for some bizarre occurrence that the doctors cannot explain." He paused for a moment and made sure that his daughter was still following the conversation before he continued.

"I am very regretful to say that, as of now, there is no cure for his sickness. The medical practitioners have yet to find its remedy. But for now, there is nothing that can be done but to hope and pray for a cure. Some of the townsfolk that caught the disease already died, some are badly bedridden while their body continues to deteriorate until they are out of breath. It is tragic that Kisaka had to have this disease. That's why he can't do his duties anymore. We had agreed that he give up being your Knight. Do you understand now, Cagalli?"

Her face was still tainted with utter stupor. Her father kept telling her one unbelievable thing, then another that she was convinced that maybe this was all a bad nightmare.

"He came to me the other day, telling me this information. He said that he had been feeling unwell for the past few weeks and there had been some indications that he the same disease. Along with the frequent fever that he got, be had been coughing blood and head was always in pain even when he had rested adequately. I had to ask our doctor to even examine him, and they confirmed that it was the same as the disease that was from the other town. After discussing with me, he left immediately. He told me that he didn't want to infect us if in case it was a viral disease. I had given him my consent to his resignation."

She was stuck between feeling relieved that it wasn't due to something that was opposed to the supposedly code of conduct of the Knights and the feeling of immense worry because it was something that was actually more serious than she initially thought. Her relief gradually subsided, being replaced with the latter reaction, and it was spreading throughout her body. Kisaka had an illness that had no cure? Why didn't she know about this?"

"But why didn't he tell me about this?" There was also that feeling that she had been betrayed. Why did he tell her father, but not her? She could not help but feel that way, for he was her personal knight. He should have told her as well! Didn't he trust her?

"Knowing him, he wouldn't have wanted to have that painful goodbye with you… He cares about you so much that he didn't want to you to be saddened." He told her.

"Either way, it would still reap the same outcome. By choosing not to even bid goodbye, and I am saddened as well. For me, this is much worse, leaving without saying anything. I'd rather that he just told me!" She retorted bitterly.

"Cagalli…" His father's voice was gentle and understanding to her sentiments right now. "I'm sure Kisaka did what he thought was best at the moment."

"But still… Ah… Forget it." She wanted to insist that it was wrong to do that, but not much could be done with that now. All that was in her mind now was to see him and check how he's faring with his disease. "Father, can we at least visit him? To check on him and how he's doing?" She wanted to know if he was still okay.

Her father though, did not like the idea. "Cagalli, I think it would be better if we do not visit him right now."

"What? Why not?" She was in disbelief that he even disagreed. She was confident that he would think that it was a good idea, but it seems like it was not! She could not believe that her father was even saying that! Kisaka became close to both of them! That was why they should at least visit him and learn about his condition all the more.

"As much as I want to, Kisaka wouldn't want us to see him in that kind of state. And I understand where he is coming from, he is a proud Knight and for him, he would not allow for his masters to see him that way. Adding to that, until the disease is validated as something that cannot infect other people, I will not allow you to go. I cannot risk your health." He tried to explain to her, even though he knew that Cagalli wouldn't agree to that.

"Even so, we still have to go and see him! What if his illness doesn't really infect other people? And what if we never get to see him again?" She refused to be defeated without a fight. It didn't matter that they were his masters! Kisaka was still Kisaka, sick or not.

"Cagalli dear," His voice was gentle. "Please do not force it."

"But, Father! 

"Cagalli, please do not be so stubborn. My decision is final. You cannot go there to visit him. We will no longer argue about this." On the other hand, her father also stood on his ground as well.

With the tone of voice that he just used on her, she knew that there was no way around it; he will not allow her to see Kisaka. If she continued to force on her father what she wanted, he would most probably lose his temper, which also she did not want to happen.

"Another thing." He had a hold on the cup again, preparing to take a sip, talking about another topic like nothing just happened. "You should choose a new Knight as soon as possible."

"Father!" She exclaimed in disbelief. She could not believe this! He was replacing Kisaka that easily? "I don't even want to think about that right now!"

"A princess should always have a Knight." He said firmly. "I'll gather the finest Knights tomorrow afternoon. You should be able to choose a Knight no later than tomorrow. Do you understand, Cagalli?"

They were just talking about Kisaka and now her father's attention was shifting to choosing new Knights? The last thing on her mind was picking a new one! Was Kisaka really not that important to his father like she thought he was?

Refraining herself from spatting rude words yet again, she decided to just leave the room. She just nodded in agreement and excused herself from the dining hall leaving her father to sigh to himself, not liking how their conversation had ended. When the door closed, she bent down again to remove her shoes and walked briskly back to her room to think and to calm herself. Lunamaria and Meyrin hurriedly followed her again, but this time, they remained silent. It was not a good time to laugh heartily when Princess Cagalli and King Uzumi just had a heated debate.

When she reached her room, she plopped herself down to her bed. She buried her face in her pillows in defeat as she controlled herself from screaming. All these negative emotions were welling up inside her, anger, frustration, sadness, confusion, awful and worry were all mixing up to create a bad mixture of her mood but she refused to let it get the best of her.

Her thoughts then floated to her Knight, Kisaka. Somehow, she understood why he did not want her to know that he had an illness. When you are the person being depended on, you don't really want to appear weak and frail. He was the Knight and for her to him that way might be mortifying for him. This was why she thought that 'titles' were sometimes such a burden.

She felt really bad for him. Why did he have to catch that sickness? He had always been conscious of what he ate, and he always did physical activities to strengthen his body. But still, he had to get ill.

Now that he had fallen ill, he is able to be with his family again. Kisaka had a wife and two kids that he loved very dearly. Now that she thought about it, it might be selfish of her to want him to still be her Knight, when she knew that if he were to continue to be her Knight, it would mean that his family would be placed as the his second priority. He rarely went home to his family because he was always looking after her, but now that he did, he had fallen very ill. Now, she accepted, that it was probably best that she choose another knight.

Even so, she just had to see Kisaka, just to have a proper goodbye! She could not be at peace without that! She just wanted to know that everything on his end was okay and that there was nothing that she should worry about.

Her gut feeling told her that his sickness wasn't something that would infect her. If it did, then she should have also gotten the disease a long time ago since he told her father that he had been feeling strange for the past few weeks. It definitely was not what her father thought it was.

She sat up her bed and felt a jolt of positive energy and motivation. It was one of those days wherein her mischievous side taking over.

A headstrong princess, that was what she was, after all.

-o0o-

"Good morning, Princess Cagalli!" Meyrin gently knocked on her door the next morning. It was a few minutes past seven o clock and they were sure that the Princess was already awake. Perhaps, even hungry. "It's time for breakfast! The cook prepared your favorite! May we come in?" Lunamaria was right behind her, carrying the wooden tray, which contained the food that the palace cook made especially for the Princess.

Instead of getting a zealous morning greeting from her, they got the opposite. No response came from inside, and they initially thought that she still fast asleep as they entertained the visitors last night until it got very late.

"Princess Cagalli?" She knocked again, a bit louder than the last one.

There was still no answer on the other end.

"Big sister, do you think we should just enter or should we wait for the Princess to wake up?" Meyrin asked her sister, as she was quite unsure of what they should do. The princess was usually awake at this time which was why this was one of those rare times they were having this dilemma.

Lunamaria paused for a moment, thinking it through. It might be rude to just barge inside the room to wake up the Princess if she was really tired, but what if she gets angry at them if they let her continue to sleep until later today? But if the Princess wants them to wake her up, she would tell them the night before. She always has. But last night though, there were visitors! What should they do? It was a very difficult decision indeed.

"Big sister?" Meyrin asked her again when she wasn't responding.

"I think we should just wait until the Princess is awake… She must have been so tired from last night." She told her, quite unsure herself of the decision, but they retreated back to the kitchen.

After two hours, they came back to Cagalli's room. The princess still did not come down to the dining hall for she might have been expecting them to bring it to her room since her father would not be back until the afternoon. They brought with them with a fresh set of her breakfast on the wooden tray.

"Princess Cagalli! Good morning! Are you awake yet?" Meyrin knocked enthusiastically again. But to their surprise there was still no sound that came from the room. She turned to her sister and said in a quiet tone. "What do we do? It seems like she still is asleep."

Lunamaria placed the wooden tray on the floor and approached the door. She gave it a try as well. "Princess? We brought you breakfast. Aren't you hungry yet?"

When the room was still dead silent, Meyrin turned to her sister and said. "Something's wrong here. Princess Cagalli isn't really a heavy sleeper. Am I right?"

Lunamaria nodded. The Princess can even wake up even just by the sound their footsteps approaching her door. If she were planning to sleep in late, she would tell them that they shouldn't disturb her and wait for her to come down to the dining hall. This was really an unusual situation.

If it were because of the talk that she had with her father, she would talk to them about it. Could she be showing signs of rebellion by locking herself up?

What if she was just saddened by the thought that Kisaka was sick and could not be her bodyguard anymore? Maybe this was the reason why she refused to come out of the room.

"What if she's feeling unwell? Maybe that's why she's not answering the door." Lunamaria suggested.

Meyrin's eyes widened and her shoulders became stiff, now aware that her sister might be correct. "You're right! Since they stayed up late last night, maybe she's having a cold and now she doesn't even have the energy to answer the door! In this case, we should definitely go inside, even without her permission!" Her high-pitched voice was louder this time.

Lunamaria got the wooden tray from the door. She was feeling the energy rising from within her. "Okay, let's go in! Let's take care of the Princess!"

They opened the door and entered. They realized that the Princess was still in bed, her whole body covered with her velvet blanket. With her thick curtains spread out widely over the windows, her room was really dim. Surprisingly, the figure in the bed did not even stir with the sound of her door opening.

Lunamaria put down the wooden tray on the table while Meyrin rushed to tie the curtains so that light could finally enter the room. She also opened the windows and the cool breeze then made its way inside, making the silk fabric of her coverlet hangings draped on the wooden frame sway gently.

"Princess, are you feeling well? We're very sorry that we entered your room without permission, we just were so worried when you weren't answering." Meyrin came closer to the Princess' bed, uncertain whether she should try and shake her even just a little.

With the light brightening the room, her sister noticed that the Princess did not even stir. What was worse, there seem to be no movement at all, even the gentle rising and falling, which was an indication that she was still breathing.

Her eyes widened in realization. Panic struck her whole body so quick when she realized that this sight in front of them could mean that the Princess was… Was she…? She could not even say it in her thoughts. She refused to!

She made her way to where Meyrin was and shook the figure that was on the bed, not as gently as they usually did at that. "Princess! Princess!" She didn't care if she was being rude or something of the sort, what mattered was that the Princess would move. Her sister was calling out to her to stop what she was doing, but continued on.

As she held the sleeping figure in her hands, she noticed that something was very obscure. The princess' body seemed to be very soft, almost like a pillow's.

A pillow! Could it be?

She forcefully stripped the blanket from the supposedly sleeping princess. Both the sisters' jaws dropped wide as they looked at the sight before them.

It wasn't the princess! It were just pillows placed underneath the sheets to make it look like she was in a very deep slumber. T

Before they could feel relief that the Princess' health was not in peril, panic struck them again. If these were the Princess' pillows, then she was…

They looked at each other, both having ascertained that the problem was also as bad, before exclaiming.

"The Princess is missing!"

-o0o-

She was lost, mindlessly and utterly lost.

Taking a pause from her walk, she breathed deeply and wiped the beads of sweat that was forming on her brow. It seemed like she had been walking forever, with no end in sight. She had no recollection of having passed this part of town and she could not help but curse her confidence inwardly. Initially, she thought that finding Kisaka's home was easy as pie because they paraded the town often. It only occurred to her now that she actually has not seen his house before.

All alone, she could only marvel at how big the town house and how complicated the paths and roads all seemed to be. Maybe she should suggest to her father that they visit the town more often like this, so that they would be able to know all the turns and corners of it. But she doubted that he would allow that sort of thing.

She tightened her hold on her brown and thick cloak, fearing that it may suddenly fall to reveal who she was. She trudged a few more steps, examining this part of town, rummaging in her mind just in case there is a faintest recognition that she had been here before.

A bakery shop was on her left with a flower shop next to it. They always passed by a bakery shop when they went to town, but then she knew that there was a signage hanged to the door, this one did not. She was also sure that a fruit stand was next to it. On her right side, there were houses and shops of the shoemakers, tailors and weavers that were very close to each other. The white walls, brick foundations and wooden sills and beams of their homes made her even more nervous. She did not remember having seen these ones before.

Kisaka told her once the way to her house when they were in town. He told her that in order to get to his house, they had to go to the main road and turn right after they pass by the church. She tried to remember a more detailed instruction but to no avail. What she could remember though was that there were butchers, potters, and smiths along the way. But the directions she should take, she unfortunately had no recollection of it anymore. It was partly because she was told of that information a few years ago.

Maybe she could ask the people if they knew a certain Kisaka? This was the quickest solution to her dilemma. Surely a lot of people here knew who he was. But then again, it would lead to another problem. If she were to ask, the people might recognize her since she had to come near them, and if she did, the situation would surely be messy. Although she was very much tempted to do so, she could not risk her identity being recognized.

Thinking to herself, maybe she could have asked for Lunamaria and Meyrin's help on this. Even just for directions to Kisaka's house. But then again, she did not want to involve them in this rebellious action of hers. Knowing their kind and understanding dispositions, they would definitely try to make things easier for her. They might even lie just for the sake of her selfish endeavor. If the people in the palace knew that they were involved and consented to this, they probably might get expelled from the castle, or worse, they might be punished for her misconduct. The decision to sneak away from the castle and to visit Kisaka was her decision alone, thus, she did not want them to be held accountable for it. If someone needed to be punished, it should only be her.

She then wondered if they already found out that she was missing. Perhaps putting her feathered pillows underneath her blanket to make it look like she was fast asleep was a very lousy move. It was also a habit of her to wake up early so it would not surprise her if they found it suspicious that she was not coming out of her room or not even responding to them if, by chance, they went to check on her.

Now that she thought about it more, it was the first time that she was did this. She had to admit that there were times that she disobeyed her father, but not to this extent! The worse that she had probably done before was to pretend to like drinking tea but to spit it out when her father was not looking or those times when she should have been practicing on ballroom dancing but she ran away from the teacher and hid in the kitchen. Never in her wildest dreams did she think that she would have to sneak out from the castle.

It was a very hard thing to do, that is. As soon as sunrise came and her father left the castle, she then got out of her room and commenced her plan. What she didn't know was that the guards of the castle were so strict! At first, she tried to casually walk out of the gate but she was halted by several of them, telling her that she must not go out of the castle grounds without permission from the king or with the company of her knight. But her knight wasn't there with her, was he?

Her back-up plan was to climb over the castle walls and take it from there. But as she examined the cold and cemented castles, she realized that it would be impossible to climb over them without creating such a scene. Since the castle guards were so strict, she felt pessimism overwhelming her. She did not have a chance anymore? Did she?

Thank Haumea that there was a delivery of vegetables in the kitchen. As she was starting to feel defeat, she saw a wagon that was headed towards the kitchen. A crazy idea suddenly came upon her. She rushed back inside the castle to her room to grab her cloak that she always used for disguise. She did not know if this could work, but she had to try.

When no one was looking her way, she carefully slipped inside the carriage along with all the other vegetables. There she was, the Princess of Orb, hiding and squeezing with potatoes, carrots and cabbages. She had to be careful not to damage even one of these, for she understood that this was the townsfolk's livelihood. After a time that seemed like eternity, the man who went inside the kitchen finally emerged as she heard him setting himself on the horse and guiding it to leave the palace.

She inhaled nervously when the wagon passed the guards, thinking that she would be caught because they would inspect the carriage. Luckily for her, it appeared that townsfolk and the guards were in good terms, friends, as she might put it. Instead of asking him to open his wagon and inspect, they bid him farewell and wished that he had a good day ahead. The man told them the same thing as well.

It really wasn't the comfortable type of ride that she got used to. In fact, she had a hard time breathing and moving as the vegetables kept hitting her face and body. It was a bumpy ride too. Occasionally, her head would hit the wooden walls of the wagon and that hurt. But she knew she had to endure this.

"All for the sake of Kisaka." She whispered words of encouragement to herself.

After a long time, the wagon stopped. Carefully, she peered over to see where they were and saw that they were finally in town. She got excited and happy that she was even able to pull this one off. The man got off his horse and proceeded inside a tailor's shop. She knew it was her cue to get off. Carefully, she slid off the wagon, trying not to let anything fall and scurried away before people see her.

But when she was able to focus on the surroundings, she then realized that she did not have a clue as to where she was.

Now, she walked where her feet decided to take her. She had no idea where she was going, but she with every step she carried with her the hope that she might find herself in the main road so that she could finally reach Kisaka's house. There were a lot more houses and shops with every turn that she took, but still no church.

There were a lot of people here. Children were playing in the streets, women telling stories to each other while carrying the basket of goods they had bought, men honing their craft and training their apprentices while some of them wooed the women. By this lively sight, she felt like a lonely traveler in the in midst of all these people.

Feeling the rays of the hot sun trying to penetrate her skin, she could tell that it was more or less an hour before noon. She inwardly panicked at the thought that she would not be back before her father gets home. Should she just give this up? But even if she rushed back home, she still would not make it, given that she did not even now where she was exactly. Either way it was the same so she decided to pursue her plan to visit Kisaka.

First things first she had to find her way to the main road.

She walked some more; noting that she was now feeling a bit dazed and even parched, as she was not used to all of this. The sun burned her with its blazing rays and her thick cloak prevented her from feeling the breeze. It tortured her a lot, but she just could not remove her cloak. Right now, the thought was strongly lingering in her mind, besides the idea of jumping into a body of water.

Without even noticing, she paused in her tracks, trying to cool down even for just a bit, but to no avail. She fanned herself using her hands but that did not help either.

A cool breeze passed by the town, much to her delight. She closed her eyes and savored the cool air as it helped lessen the heat that was all over her body. She did not know how long she stayed that way, but she guessed that it was longer than a minute.

Her thoughts began to wander to Kisaka. Would she still be able to see him? Honestly, she wasn't so sure now. A few hours before, she was very certain that she would be able to drop by, even if it was just a few minutes. She would be able to wish him well and to thank him for all everything that he had done for her in the past. But seeing how she's going around and around the town in circles, it wouldn't surprise her when a number of castle guards roam around town to search for her later on.

She could not even imagine how mad her father would be when she got escorted back to the castle. Of course, a slap in her face was in order. After all, he had told her that she was not allowed to go, and yet she even had the nerve to run off and disrespect him like this. She hoped he would understand why he did this, but nevertheless she expected punishment from him.

She guessed that she had been spacing out when she just stood there like a statue, detached from the town and the surroundings when an unusual and clanging sound was heard. All the people turned to look at what it was, except her, for she continued staring at the ground, and were rejoicing that the temperature wasn't as hot as it was a while ago.

The next thing she knew, the townsfolk were screaming, as there was a very large commotion. That snapped her out from her daydreaming as she turned to where the sound came from.

"What's happening?" The words came out of her mouth even if it was not directed to anyone in particular.

Finally, her eyes were able to catch sight of what was causing all of this, and it widened in shock. There was a thief! He was running loose, carrying with him the sack, which contained the things that he stole.

As if stealing wasn't enough, he even had the guts to mess up every shop that he passed by. Using his free hand, he ran to the stalls that he passed and knocked down the merchandise. Fruits, vegetables, meat, bread were all falling on the fall along with porcelain items and pots, causing difficulty for the apprehenders to catch up to him. The shop owners panicked at the sight of their livelihood on the floor that they scrambled to pick up items that they could salvage, yelling spiteful words to the thief that did this to them. This made it difficult for the ones who were trying to chase him because the shop owners were getting in their way.

Everything was happening to quickly that she did not know what to do. It was the first time that something like this happened while she was in town. She was not used to this kind of mayhem.

Before she knew it, the thief was already running towards her direction.

Fear and exhaustion overwhelmed her as she froze in her place. She did not know why, but she just stayed put and continued to look at him. As he was nearing her, she noticed what she had in his hands.

Was that a knife?

He had shown her that he was about to hit her with it as he lifted his arms up, ready to strike her.

She could only close her eyes at that moment, preparing for the impact of the knife on her body.

This might have been the consequence for being such a disrespectful daughter.

"Watch out!" She heard someone shout.

Instead of feeling a stab of the knife on her body, she felt an unknown hand on her arm, pulling her away from the thief to him with such a force that she threw her hands against his chest, preventing the impact that would be made from her face hitting him. Her face was now buried on his chest and she closed her eyes, wishing that everything were fine.

It was a man! She could only conclude by the brawniness that she felt when she was pressed so close to him. The man that held her wrapped her arms protectively around her, preventing her to getting hurt again. Since she was so terrified by what was happening, she let her hold him like that.

"Dearka! He's going for the escape! Quick, catch him!" She heard the man call out while he stayed by her.

She heard another set of noises behind her as she stayed in that position with her rescuer for a long time, and she figured that the thief was now caught as he was shouting that he be released.

Finally, the man finally let go of the hold that he had on her, grasping her shoulders to call out to her. "Are you alright?" His voice was filled with concern, talking to her with so much gentleness.

She opened her eyes and managed to calm down. She was very much grateful for what he had done for her. If it weren't for him, she might have been bleeding badly right now, or even lying on the floor, lifeless. Removing her head from his chest as she nodded, she slowly turned to look up at her savior.

Her amber eyes met with the most dazzling emerald eyes she had ever seen.

-o0o-

Tada! I'm done with the chapter and will update soon! Till next time!

Your feedbacks/reviews are appreciated! They make me happy. :)


	3. Moment

A/N: Hola! Presenting you the third chapter! I'm sorry if it's a bit delayed. I had a hard time concentrating on writing because of sooooo many things.

Thank you to the reviewers of my previous chapters! **Nemui Neko-chan**, **Anon**, **CagalliZala**, **Miyu Nanami**, **msylchan**, **CagalliRules**, **Andhera**, **falconrukichi**, **lezala **:)

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed/Destiny

Chapter 3: Moment

"Athrun, are you heading home already?" A man with blonde hair and tanned complexion went to where he stood. He was debating to himself, whether he should walk home or stay for a few more minutes. It was still too hot, considering that he was wearing a linen under-shirt, under-pants and a quilted surcoat with the Orb emblem over it. He was outside the house of the Knight that he was a squire to. The Knight told him that he would no longer require his services in the afternoon as he had some business to attend to.

He turned to look at his friend approaching him. Dearka's master lived nearby, and from the looks of it, he was also done for the day. "Yes, I am."

"Me too! " Dearka told him enthusiastically and they finally started to walk, much to Athrun's liking. At least now, he didn't have to endure the heat alone.

"It's a good thing that we were dismissed from our duties early! We rarely get that chance nowadays!" He stretched his arms up and heaved a sigh of relief "Was Sir La Flaga called as well?" He asked, referring to Athrun's master. "Master Za Burrel told me that all the eligible Knights were to present themselves to the King."

This sparked his tendency of further inquiry. "It seems to be that way. But why did the King call them?"

Before he answered his question, he pointed to other squires that were on their way home as well. "Look! Isn't that Nicol and Miguel?"

He nodded to that. "I suppose that our Masters weren't the only ones that were summoned."

"You're right. Well, we're talking about the Princess after all." He bluntly said, crossing his arms all the while.

The word 'Princess' made his heart skip a beat. He looked at Dearka again, making sure that he heard him right, his heart beating nervously all the while. "T-the P-princess?" He did not intend to stutter but he did. "W-what about the Princess?"

Dearka looked at him disbelievingly and saw that Athrun's face had a tint of red as he stammered for words. He knew that it was not caused by the humid temperature." Your master didn't tell you?"

He shook his head furiously. His master had been busy these past few days that they were not able to have a casual chat. "Why did you mention the Princess? Please tell me!" His tone was almost pleading, which amused Dearka.

A grin crept on Dearka's face. "I'll tell you, but, only if you treat me one mug of beer!"

It was blackmail! Dearka knew that he had always admired the Princess ever since he was just a child. Although he had no intention of telling him, or anyone for that matter, in his whole lifetime, he seemed to have noticed how he dumbfounded he always was when the Princess was in town. Now he cursed himself for being so oblivious that he was like that. But how could he even help it? Her presence was such a lovely sight to behold.

"Well?" Dearka raised a brow at him, awaiting his reply. "A mug of beer for that vital information? That's all that it would take."

He sighed in defeat, knowing that there was no way around this. "All right, it's a deal. Now tell me!" He persuaded him as he gripped Dearka's shoulder, getting impatient all the while. If he still refused to speak, he would opt to use force on him.

"Hey now, you're getting all worked up." Dearka chuckled when he saw how the Princess had that impact on him. Athrun usually had a calm and reserved façade in front of everybody, which was why this was one of those rare moments he took pleasure in, teasing him with his weakness when he could.

He released the grip that he had and refrained from doing it again. He tried to relax and wait patiently for his friend to speak.

Breathing deeply, Dearka started. "From what my Master told me, the King called all the Knights in the kingdom. He would hold a tournament to find a suitable knight for the Princess. It turns out that her Knight, the honorable Kisaka, caught a dangerous illness. The disease he had was the one that we were talking about the other day, the one that had no cure? Do you remember?"

He nodded. It was true that there had been some rumors about that sort of sickness, but he never expected it to be true. For anyone to have such a disease, it was really unfortunate.

Now that he thought about it, Sir Kisaka had been the Princess' knight since she was young. He had been that one who came for the Princess when she wandered with him around town. From the times that he had been watching her from afar, he noticed that Sir Kisaka was always next to her.

Kisaka, the strong and virtuous Knight that he grown up idolizing. To think that he would have that sort of illness…

Dearka's voice cut his thoughts. "Sir Kisaka is the most valiant Knight there is, so I don't know how anyone could even be at par with him. Although, I'm not saying that other Knights are flimsy. Our masters and the others Knights are exceptional! But Sir Kisaka is the most legendary Knight there is! He even led the battle many years ago, which led to Orb's victory!"

He did not respond to that and continued to be in a very deep thought. He had to agree with Dearka, every Knight in the Kingdom looked up to Sir Kisaka. Even his master, Sir La Flaga could only hope to be as great as he is. But now he was sick. He hoped that a cure would be found soon for him and the other people who caught the disease. Nobody deserved to have that kind of sickness.

"Who do you think would be the Princess' new Knight?" Dearka asked him again, switching to a new topic. "My bet is on my master of course!" He grinned, feeling confident about his choice.

His thoughts floated back to her on the mention of 'Princess'. He could only imagine how saddened the Princess might be with her Knight's condition. They seemed get along during that time Sir Kisaka found them years ago, not to mention the fact that Sir Kisaka had been her Knight for many years.

How would she even choose a new Knight then? He figured that she would be upset about this news. But then again, she needed to have a new protector for her safety.

A new Knight for the Princess…

That's it!

Then it hit him! His heart raced faster than it normally should have. All these years of working hard and training to become a spectacular Knight just to be worthy to be near the Princess. That dream that kept him going through all the sacrifices and hardships! The aspiration might just be realized!

Not that he was grateful that Sir Kisaka had to step down from the position because of the illness, he could not even bear to think that way! But with the Princess lacking a Knight… could he have a chance at this?

Athrun's response shocked Dearka. "Is it possible for squires to join that selection?"

Dearka was very much surprised with his reply. He knew that Athrun had been fond of the Princess for the longest time, but to that extent? With the number of great Knights in the Kingdom, being the Princess' Knight was something that they could only dream of. Here he was, thinking that it was nothing more than a crush. But it seemed like Athrun's feelings towards the Princess were greater than he had imagined.

"Are you serious about that?" He asked again, just in case Athrun was just trying to be funny. But when he took a look at his friend, he knew that he was not, as his eyes were full of determination. After all, he wasn't much of a jest either.

"Look Athrun, I know you've always been at the top of class coupled with your excellent combat skills and not to mention selected by the Remarkable Knight, La Flaga to train you as his squire, but becoming the Princess knight? Isn't that impossible as of the moment?" He told him, trying to discourage him of thinking of such impractical things. "After all, we're still squires."

"I know that, but we'll be dubbed as Knights in a few weeks right?" He retorted, trying to reason with Dearka. In a month, he'll be turning twenty-one and will be bestowed the privilege of Knighthood.

The Order of the Knights though, was such a strict fellowship. Even if he had passed all the rigorous training, the dubbing ceremony had to take place or else he was still held to be a squire. "To be honest, I don't really grasp why we can't. After all, it's just a matter of formalities now and we've done extensive preparation." Rather than not having the ability to reason, he refused to understand why they could not have a shot at it. He knew that he was capable of protecting her.

"Even if you say that, we lack experience." Dearka said to him, choosing his words carefully so as not to upset him so much. "I agree, we've been sent to a few missions and we practice our fighting skills daily, but it's not enough for now. Most of the time, our job is just to assist our masters and follow their orders. Unlike us, they have been through the some difficult missions and engaged in actual combat, making them better qualified for that position of being a Knight of a royal blood."

He hated to admit it, but Dearka's point was not a moot one. It was the Princess that needed a new Knight, and as expected, she only deserved to be guarded not just by anyone, it should the best Knight that they could find. Even with all the hard work that he had been putting into it, maybe he still wasn't there yet.

His blue-haired companion did not speak and continued to walk in silence. As he looked at the dejected expression on his face, Dearka suddenly remembered the first time they met as pages.

Athrun was always by himself, immersed in reading a book. All the other kids had nasty things to say about him. They say that he was weird and that Dearka should not even act friendly with him. He sat with him one morning, however, and from then on, he was sure that those other kids didn't know how cool he was.

Pretty soon, they became close friends, playing and chatting almost always. It came to a point wherein he got curious and asked him why he wanted to become a Knight, and to his surprise, Athrun's answer was quick and full of certainty.

"_I will be a Knight, because I want to protect the Princess." _His eyes were beaming and full of determination.

They were just eight-year old kids back then.

Athrun delved more about what Dearka had just said to him. He knew all of those perfectly. Somehow, he felt overly optimistic to challenge the usual norms. But now he knew, that it would go nowhere.

It was true that there were a lot of gallant men out there that were more entitled to become the Princess' Knight. Even so, he could not help but hope to join the selection. What if he still wasn't as good as the others? It would not hurt if he tried, right?

He'd give anything, just so he could be given a chance to prove that he could fulfill those duties as well. He felt so restricted with all of the traditions and ceremonies, but he knew there was nothing that he could do to, but conform to it. He felt that all of it was just so close, but was out of his reach.

He felt Dearka's hand on his shoulder. "Don't get all down in the dumps now!" He consoled him, trying to make him feel better. "You'll have that chance when the right moment comes."

He managed to murmur a reply, not even trying to hide the disappointment in his voice. "I guess you're right."

"Or you know." Dearka got closer to him and whispered. "Once we become full-fledged Knights, you could murder the Princess' Knight so that the selection process would happen again."

A loud whack could be heard. It was the sound of Athrun's hand hitting Dearka on the head. "Idiot! Don't say things like those."

"Ouch!" Dearka was rubbing the part that Athrun just smacked. It really hurt. His friend sure was strong. "I was just kidding! You always take my jokes seriously."

But even before Athrun could respond to that, they heard a very large shriek.

"Thief!"

Both of them turned to look at where the sound came from. There was man that clutched a large sack on his hands very tightly as he dashed. He was being chased by a few of the townsfolk in rage. To prevent them from catching him, he was knocking down the merchandise and anything that he passed by without any remorse.

Athrun and Dearka looked at each other for a split second, exchanging signals. They knew what they were to do in this situation. They were to catch the thief!

Seeing that the thief was running towards them, Dearka motioned for Athrun to go to the other side of the street to corner him while he pursued him from this end. He nodded and ran as fast as he could, completely forgetting about how hot the day was. All that was in his mind right now was to not let the robber get away.

He was standing right on the end of the other street quicker than he had expected, surprising himself at the same time. He inhaled deeply, trying to catch his breath after that sprint. Dearka and the thief weren't there yet, and he was wondering if he was even on the right road. But he knew that he was, since he took a shortcut.

A few seconds later, there they were! The looter was still on the run with the stolen goods and he seemed to be pulling something off of his sleeve. Upon closer look, Athrun eyes widened, he was holding a knife.

He readied himself for combat. Even when he didn't have any weapons with him as of the moment, he knew he could take him down with just his bare hands. Just as he was preparing to attack, something caught his eye…

A civilian!

To make things worse, he was in the middle of the street. What was he doing, standing there like a frozen man? Was he so dumbfounded with what was happening? In any case, he had to get out of the way!

"Watch out!" He shouted to him to snap the townsfolk out of his state of shock, but he did not even move an inch. The robber got closer to them, holding his knife in a position that was ready to plunge it into the innocent civilian's throat since he was blocking the way.

He had to act fast, or else the townsfolk will die! He charged towards them and grabbed the civilian before it was too late. Seeing that Dearka already was ready to attack him from behind, all that he needed to do was to get the move the man from there. He got a hold of his arm and pulled him towards him with all his strength that civilian was lunged towards him.

Once they were out of the way, Dearka threw himself on the thief, causing him to fall to the ground. The sack he was holding was released from his grip, causing the goods to fly out in the air.

Athrun realized that the thief stole chinaware and they were all threatening to fall on them, he instinctively wrapped his arms around the civilian to protect him.

When he did, he heard a shriek coming from the thick cloak.

A woman?

She buried her head in his chest, her hands clutching his surcoat. From how she was breathing so rapidly, he could tell that she had been terrified.

He did not even have time to react to that, seeing that the thief wriggled out of Dearka's grasp and tried to get back on his feet. "Dearka! He's going for the escape! Quick, catch him!" He had tightened his hold on the girl, in case the thief attacked them again.

Luckily, the other squires also got there and helped in tying him up. He was then was screaming that he be released, but to no avail.

Finally, when it was all settled and the commotion was subsiding, he then realized that his arms were still around her. He flustered with that bold move and quickly let go of his hold on her body, but grasped her shoulders, as if to snap her out of her thoughts and to tell her that it was all over. "Are you alright?" He asked her, wishing that she also did not feel harassed by what he had done.

Slowly, she tore her head away from his chest and nodded, her hands subsequently dropping to her sides. She lifted her head up to look at him.

He was surprised with what he saw that his heart skipped a beat.

A pair of familiar and captivating hazel orbs met with his eyes.

The Princess!

At that moment, everything felt so surreal. Perhaps his mind created this illusion to compensate for the reality that he slapped him hard in the face a few moments back, for it was beyond the bounds of reality that she would ever be this close to him.

He blinked rapidly a few more times before realizing that it was really happening.

"P-pri-princ-" He felt her hands on his mouth, preventing him from saying anything more. She panicked and turned to see if the other people noticed as well. Seeing that they were pre-occupied with the captive, she heaved a sigh of relief and met with his eyes again. At that moment, he could feel the heat rising to his face, his heart almost threatening to explode. The princess was touching him!

"Shh! Don't shout… Please?" Her voice was barely audible as she begged him not to create a fuss. He nodded swiftly, as he was too speechless to even make a sound. She removed the hold she had on his lips subsequently, trusting that he would not expose her almost immediately.

Athrun's gaze was fixated on her, still trying to take in what was in front of him. It was really Princess Cagalli! If he had not made it on time a while ago… he did not even want to think about it. But more importantly, what was she doing here without a single companion? Why was she disguised as a commoner? Did she run away from the castle? He had wanted to ask her all but he could not utter a single word.

With her back still facing the townsfolk gathering around the thief, she listened as they conversed. He did the same thing, tearing his eyes away from her, with much difficulty, and focused on the ruckus.

At first the squires didn't know what to do with the thief. They were debating whether they should punish him by cutting off his arm or handing him over to the aggravated shop owners. The captive just sat there with his arms tied around his back, terrified for his life.

"Wait!" She was surprised when her rescuer he spoke in a deep voice. "We just have to catch him. We are not permitted to pass a verdict upon the man."

That was when Athrun felt the Princess tugging on his undershirt. As the squires conversed with each other yet again, he glanced at her direction.

"Please, can you tell them to place the man in the dungeon instead? I want to be able to talk to him first. I'm sure that there's a reason behind his actions." With a concerned look on her face, she pleaded for him to convince the other squires to veer away from the cruel punishment.

Those words make him think highly of her even more. Even when she was almost killed by this man, she still thought about his welfare. A warm smile made its way on his face when he responded. "I agree with you, Princess. Allow me to convince them on this matter." He excused himself from her and walked towards the other squires.

"Athrun!" Dearka called to him. "What do you think? Since he stole and damaged a lot of items, isn't it equitable to also cut off his arm? Add to that, he caused a lot of inconvenience to the townsfolk." He motioned to the people that gathered around them that had such an unhappy expression.

"Dearka, we shouldn't decide these things on our own. Let's put him in the dungeon and let the authorities handle it." He suggested, trying to conceal the fact that it was the Princess who told him of such a thing.

Dearka had a confused expression on and tried to reason with him. "But he-"

"If we take upon the role of passing judgment upon this man, then we bring shame to our masters. You should all know that the officials are more fitting to investigate and adjudicate the man's actions." He said firmly, so as to dissuade Dearka and the others from their foolish ideas.

The blonde knew better than to argue with Athrun on these matters. "Very well, to the dungeon it is." He signaled the thief to stand up as he held the rope. "You're not going with us?" Dearka then asked when he noticed that his friend didn't appear to be following him and was still rooted on the spot that he stood a while ago.

This startled Athrun. He did need to make sure that they took him into the dungeon, but he turned to look behind him and saw that the Princess was still there. She then was facing them, with the cloak covering her features. She was staring at him, tad frightened, not know what she would now do if he went on his way. All them more that he wanted to stay, knowing that she was alone. It was not safe to leave her! What if something bad were to happen again?

Maintaining his cool composure, he told his friend. "You go ahead and take him there. I still have some business to attend to."

With that, Dearka went on his way, harboring no speculation that Athrun was hiding something from him.

Even if it was just for this short time, he wanted to be by her side.

-o0o-

"Are we close to Kisaka's house?" The Princess asked him when they walked passed the church. It had been the fourth time that she had brought that up that he wanted to chuckle at her impatience but knew better than to make her displeased with him.

Instead, he gave her a light smile. "Yes, we are definitely a few minutes away from his house." He assured her. As soon as the people cleared that area, the Princess approached him again, requesting a favor from him and he was glad that he had stayed behind. She asked if he knew where Kisaka's house was and if it was all right for him to take her to him. He responded that he knew where he lived and was more than happy to be of service to her. With that, they went on their way.

"I'm relieved." Her features of her beautiful face brightened, which was a rare and yet, lovely sight for him to behold. "In truth, I have been wandering around town since this morning. I thought it would be easy to find his house, but I was very mistaken. I felt like I already passed every street and that Kisaka's house was just hiding from me." She told him as recalled how dreaded she had felt back then.

He listened intently to every word that she said, etching into his mind the sound of her voice and how it made him feel very warm inside. It was different from the high-pitched voice from years back, but it still had that same effect on him.

He could have let her continue on speaking, until it occurred to him that he had wanted to ask her questions that were on his mind. "Princess?" He cautiously called out to her.

"Yes? What is it?" She urged him to continue.

"If you don't mind me asking, did you come to town all by yourself?" He initially suspected that she been separated from her knights and ladies-in-waiting and had expected to see them looking for her, but there were none. Adding to that was the fact that she had worn a cloak as a disguise. If there were Knights with her, then she would not need for that kind of garment.

"In truth, I went out of the castle without permission." She said, giving it away that she had felt guilty with what she had done. "My father did not permit me to visit my Knight, but I wanted to check on him, to see how he is doing. He's really sick and I'm afraid that I might not be able to see him again. You understand right?"

He was surprised by her bold move but nodded in agreement. If he had been in her position, he would also want to make sure that the person that he cared about was doing well.

"By now, I think they should have realized that I'm not in my room. But I doubt that they would suspect that I left to go to town, since it's difficult to get out of the castle anyway." She then proceeded to tell him about her escape. "There were so many guards that were by the gates, but I've managed to flee without them noticing." She grinned.

"But how were you able to escape?" He asked, very much interested to know.

She laughed at the memory of her adventures. "It wasn't much of a gallant escape! It was pretty simple! I squeezed myself in the vegetable cart of the mister that delivered goods to our house. If it weren't for that stroke of luck, I would not have been able to make it this far."

He could not help but chuckle as he imagined the precious princess inside the vegetable cart. The image was silly, but at the same time, it made him admire her even more. She was willing to undergo those extreme, yet funny, situations, if it was for someone close to her.

"You think that it was silly, didn't you?" She pouted, as if she had read his thoughts.

"N-no! You're mistaken!" He tried to deny that it even crossed his mind. The last thing that he wanted to do was to spoil this moment. "I would never…"

"You don't have to hide that you think it is." She laughed heartily, calming him down. "Now that I think about it, it is rather funny! Imagine! I was packed there with the tomatoes, cabbages and the like!"

Her laugh made him snug inside. It was something that he could listen to the whole day, and he still would not get tired of it. What made it more difficult for him to believe that it was real was that the Princess was laughing it with him. This was something that he had been daydreaming of for quite some time now. Who would have known that it would really happen?

The amount of happiness that he had right now was something that he could not measure or even put into words. He never would have thought that he would be able to talk to the Princess in his whole lifetime, but here he was, comfortably conversing with her. He then wondered if he went too far when he touched her a while back.

But it appeared that she didn't seem to care about that as she continued to tell him about how she wandered aimlessly around town this morning.

When she turned to him, he then realized that it was very evident that he had been staring at her for a long while now. Quickly, his head spun to the opposite direction to hide his beet red face. He wanted to smack himself for being too obvious that he had been admiring her.

It was a good thing that they had reached their destination.

"Princess. We're here." They stopped in front of an old house made of bricks. The garden was tended and there were clothes that were hung to dry under the sun. There was a dog sleeping on the porch and a house tied to the maple tree in their garden. It was her first time seeing Kisaka's house. It thrilled her that somehow; she was being let in the side of her Knight that she never knew before.

"Is anyone home?" Her companion called out. Seconds later, a middle-aged woman peered in the windows before coming out to receive them.

"Can I help you?" A woman with a woolen dress opened the wooden door and stepped out of the house.

Athrun was supposed to answer on behalf of the both of them, but the Princess stepped forward. Unwrapping the cover on her hair, she spoke in a very dignified manner. "Good day to you, I'm Cagalli Yula Athha. Is this Sir Kisaka's home?"

Surprise was evident on the woman's face as she covered her mouth with both her hands. After giving her a moment to recompose herself, she affirmed that they were at the right place.

"Is he here?" She asked, and the townsfolk nodded, much to her relief.

"I apologize for going here without prior notice, but I would like to see him. That is, if it is all right with you?" Her heart beat nervously, hoping for a positive response.

"Certainly your majesty." The woman bowed her head and opened the door for her to enter. Athrun didn't know what to do at that moment, so he followed the Princess as she went inside the house.

"Please excuse our small home. I was not able to tidy up the house even a bit." The woman asked for pardon as they were led inside the house.

"No, it's okay!" The Princess didn't want her to keep on apologizing to her. "After all, I'm the one that is intruding!"

They were then ushered to a small room. There, they found Kisaka, his frail form lay on the mattress. At first, Cagalli could not recognize her Knight upon first glance. She could not believe the current state of her once vigorous and reliable Knight. He lost a lot of weight and it seemed like he was ten years older.

"Dear, who was that at the door?" He had asked him with his eyes still closed. Not aware that there were already other people in the room.

But when he spoke, she knew that it was really Kisaka.

"Kisaka!" Cagalli ran to the edge of the bed and hugged him. Athrun was taken aback by the sudden boldness of her move but remained quiet. By looking at the woman who seemed to be Kisaka's wife, he could tell that he wasn't the only one who was startled by her actions.

Kisaka eyes shot open as soon as he heard her voice. "Princess?" He was shocked to see her in his house of all places!

"Yes it's me! I came to visit you!"

The wife tapped the squire's shoulder gently and told him that she was excusing herself to get them a cup of tea. He nodded and focused his attention back to the Princess and Sir Kisaka.

"Princess Cagalli!" He sat up the mattress as soon as the princess drew herself away from him. Even though the Princess was overjoyed, Kisaka on the other hand, didn't appear too happy to see her in front of him. Scanning the room, he saw that she was with a squire that he had not recognized, which he found odd. Looking back at her direction, he spoke. "What on earth are you doing here?"

"I told you, I came here to visit you!" She repeated, as she smiled at him.

Kisaka was still unable to believe her. "Why are you with a squire? Aren't you supposed to be selecting your new Knight?" He shot him a deadpan glance that made Athrun very nervous.

"Uhm… Err…" She started to fumble for words, but she could not find a decent response to give to him.

He didn't stop there with his inquiry. Taking a good look at Cagalli, he asked once more. "And why are you wearing that kind of cloak?"

She laughed uneasily while scratching her head, still unable to answer his questions, which led Kisaka to raise his brow at her furiously. He had put the missing pieces of the puzzle together. "You went out of the castle without the King's permission, didn't you?"

She bit her lip for a moment before nodding slowly, making him frown all the more.

"I am guessing that His Majesty specifically declared that you weren't allowed to even visit me even if you insisted. Being the stubborn princess that you are, either you climbed over the castle walls or hid in the carts of the men delivering goods to escape to town." He spoke with great accuracy that it amazed Athrun how he knew the Princess so well.

"I hid in the vegetable cart…" She replied to him, almost embarrassed that she did.

"Of course you did. If you attempted to climb the castle walls, the guards would surely see you and put a stop to your dangerous actions."

Cagalli couldn't reply to that and looked down. Even with his illness, Kisaka was still strict as ever.

"Are you aware of the troubles and distress that you have caused and still may possibly cause to the people around you?" Kisaka started again, scolding her like she was a little girl. "What would your father feel if he found out that you've gone missing and disobeyed his orders? What kind of scolding do you think your ladies-in-waiting would get if they have no clue with regards to your whereabouts? Did you even think of the punishment the guards would receive when they found out that you easily slipped away from their watchful eyes?"

She remained silent as it dawned over her that she had created a big problem for a lot of people.

"Princess, you should think twice before doing these kinds of selfish acts moving forward." He advised her.

Selfish? Was it selfish to want to know if he was doing okay?

"You should go head back to the castle now." He instructed her.

"But-" She tried to protest but was indiscreetly cut off.

"No. You go back to the castle now."

Seeing his sullen face and the way that he was sending her off like he was not the least bit happy to see her broke her heart.

"Princess Cagalli?" Kisaka called out to her when he noticed that she was being unresponsive. "Did you hear me?"

She violently shook her head in disagreement and exasperation. She let her emotions run loose and then started blathering on about what was on her mind. "I'm sorry for escaping the castle okay? It's not like I wanted to disobey him in the first place! Even if father didn't allow me to go and visit you, I didn't want to leave it at that! You didn't even tell me that you had an illness and you left the castle without saying a word!"

"Princess…" Kisaka was taken aback by the sudden outburst of the Princess. "Calm down, Princess." He asked her but to no avail, she wasn't listening.

"Knowing that you were in that kind of condition, I just had to see you; I want to know if you were okay. And I…" She bowed her head, hiding the hot tears were now rolling down her cheeks. "…I wanted to say goodbye properly to you since you just left the castle like that! You've been my Knight for a long time! Naturally I'd want to visit you! Why is that selfish?"

Athrun just stood there in silence. But deep down, he wanted to hold her and to wipe her tears. Seeing her cry like that made his heart ache. He couldn't get mad with Sir Kisaka even if he had wanted to. Even if his views were unbending and the way that he callously conveyed his words, Sir Kisaka was just thinking about the welfare of the other castle workers and especially the Princess.

Kisaka's expression softened upon seeing the Princess cry. He knew that she was only worried about his wellbeing to the point that she even disobeyed her father's orders just so she could see him. Maybe he had been too harsh. After all, it was partly his fault why she even escaped the castle.

"Thank you Princess for your concern." His left hand made its way to her head and ruffled her hair, like what an older brother would do his sister. "I'm sorry if I immediately left the castle. I did not want to, but I knew I should."

"You're not angry with me?" She asked, wiping the tears from her face.

He shook his head no and smiled at her. "Unruly as always."

To this, the Princess also beamed.

The squire recalled that Sir Kisaka also uttered those same words back when she got lost in town when they were younger. He could not help but smile to himself as well.

The Princess shared a few more stories to Kisaka before the great Knight advised that she should return to the castle.

"It was nice getting to seeing you again Kisaka." She hugged him again. "I hope I can visit you again soon."

"Just make sure you ask for your father's permission next time." He chuckled as he returned her hug.

She stood up and made her way to the door when Kisaka's voice stopped her. "You…"

She turned back at him, but was surprised that Kisaka wasn't referring to her, but to the squire that accompanied her here.

"Me?" Athrun repeated, dumbfounded that he even called him.

"Yes, you." Kisaka paused for a moment before speaking again. He stood up, with great difficulty and protests from Cagalli. But he ignored her and turned his attention to Athrun.

"Please take the Princess back to the castle safely, I beg of you." The squire was surprised with the Knight's next action. He lowered his head to beseech him of the favor. It was as if he was indebted to him for escorting the Princess back to the castle! At that moment, the heaviness of the responsibility could be greatly felt as the anxiety crept up to his body. For the great Knight to bow his head like that to a plain squire that he was.

He faced Sir Kisaka again and bowed his head as well. "Thank you for your trust, Sir Kisaka. I will make sure that the Princess returns to the castle safely. I swear on it with my life."

"Thank you. I am counting on you."

With that, the pact of Knights was made.

For Athrun, it was the first of many.

-o0o-

Everything was happening so fast.

He pondered on all the events that happened before he ended up with the Princess in the carriage.

Before they went out of Kisaka's home, the Knight's children greeted the Princess. Both girls gave her fresh flowers that they plucked from the garden and they wished her well. They seemed to like her very much.

But when they got out of the house, a group of castle Knights with their respective horses waited, knowing that she would be there. She was just as shocked as she was seeing them as she stepped out. Kisaka's two daughters were terrified of the big and scary men as they hid behind their mother.

The Knights, not having any business with them, ignored them. One guard came up to the Princess and told her that as per the King's orders, she was to go back to the castle immediately. They also stressed the importance and urgency of their mission by pleading her to come with them, as they did not want to fail the King. With the look that she had on her face, he could tell that she was in big trouble.

She agreed to come back to the castle as she had achieved her objective of visiting Kisaka anyway. Before riding the carriage that they had prepared for her, she graciously thanked Athrun for saving her from the blade of the thief and accompanying her to Kisaka's house. To that, he replied that he was happy that he had been able to be of help to her. Inwardly, he felt glum that they were now parting ways. Although, he still was grateful of the short time he had with her.

To his surprise, the time spent with the Princess did not end there. The castle Knights ordered him to come with them as well for questioning. All though he did not understand why they had to bring him along, he did not have much choice but to come along. They did not bring an extra carriage or horse so he was led to the same carriage that Princess Cagalli was in. They warned him that should he try to do anything to the Princess, he would be thrown straight into the dungeon.

Just like that, he was on his way to the castle.

The uneasiness that he felt had been increasing throughout the whole ride to the castle. His feet were shaking too much that he wanted to tie them up so it would stop with those rhythmic movements. Why was he even asked to come as well?

He was even asked to ride the carriage that the Princess was on! He half-expected that he would be walking his way to the castle as he was bound in ropes. But it had been urgent that the Princess was brought back to the castle.

He then started to recall all the things that he had done to warrant this. Could it be due to the fact that he wanted to try out for the selection of the Princess' Knight even though he was just a squire? No, that wasn't it. How could they have known?

Was it because he touched the Princess a few hours ago? Now that he thought about it, it was an audacious and suicidal act to lay his hands on a royal blood! That was abomination! It was like he laid a death sentence on his own life! He did that for her safety though. She could have been killed if he hadn't pulled her away. Would the King believe him if he told him that? But they also could not have known that, unless… he had emitted an aura of a perverted man? Impossible!

Maybe that wasn't the case. Since the King did not allow Princess Cagalli to visit Sir Kisaka, then wasn't he violating the command of the King since he helped the Princess to get to his house? He knew perfectly that the Princess was disobeying her father, but he carried on. They had solid proof that he was indirectly going against the will of the King. After all, he was with her when they had found her.

Seeing the Princess' happy face when he had helped her, made it impossible for him to regret his decision. He had to prepare himself though, to whatever punishment they might lay on him.

He gulped nervously at the thought of his head getting cut off.

"I'm sorry." The Princess' soft voice cut in his train of thoughts. "To force you to come along… I shouldn't have involved you in this. I'm really, really sorry." Her eyes also reflected distress for the both of them.

"Princess, it's okay." He gave her a smile and tried to remain calm so that she wouldn't worry that much.

"Maybe I'm really selfish…" She despaired.

"No. That's not true!" He shook his head violently. He would not allow her to think that way. "You are not selfish, Princess. You are the opposite of that! You are good-natured and caring! I can testify to that!" His voice was too enthusiastic when he said that. But it couldn't be helped, since the Princess Cagalli was starting to feel dejected.

Her eyes widened with his outpour. "You…"

Almost immediately, he quickly lowered his head and apologized. "I'm sorry for the sudden outburst. It's just that, I don't want the Princess to think of herself that way because it's not true."

"Thank you." She smiled at him once more. He could only wish that their time together would be longer.

"I'm hoping that this is just a big misunderstanding on their part." She sighed as she shuffled in her seat. "You were just helping me find Kisaka's house. You even saved me from getting killed!"

Before he could respond, the carriage came into a discreet halt. The door was opened and a Knight was escorting the Princess out.

"You, come down as well." The Knight told him, and he hopped out of the carriage almost instantly.

They were then led into the castle halls. Athrun was walking behind Princess Cagalli and the castle guards. To stir his nervousness away, he distracted himself with the surroundings. It was his first time inside the castle. He marveled at how high the ceilings were, lavish chandeliers, wide windows, and numerous portraits of the royal family bloodline. He expected the castles to be dark and gloomy, but it exceeded his expectations a lot.

"We're here." The Knight announced as they stopped by a humongous door. Guards at the both ends opened the wooden door and held it as they entered.

Lo and behold, he was presented to the King. He was regally seated in his throne while a few Knights stood behind him, giving him a feel that they were ready to plunge their weapons at him if he attempted to do anything strange. He lowered his head and kneeled one of his knees down on the velvet carpet, avoiding any eye contact. It was customary, especially when the King had summoned them. Meeting their eyes would mean impertinence and arrogance.

"Father…" Princess Cagalli's voice came; a slight quiver could be noticed in her tone of voice.

"Cagalli…" Her father spoke. "I see that you're back from your _trip_." He emphasized the last word with a hint of distaste.

"Yes." She replied cautiously.

Eerie silence filled the room after. Her father wasn't very pleased by what she had done.

"Well," The King cleared his throat. "Would you care to explain why you were gone this morning?"

"I escaped the castle to go to town and visit Kisaka…" Her voice trailed off.

"Do you remember what I told you yesterday?"

She nodded.

"What was it?"

"I was told not to leave the castle grounds."

"But you did." The King said, disappointed in his daughter.

She pursed her lips, not knowing what to say.

"We had inconvenienced all the Knights in town for the selection, and yet I had to send them back home since the person who was supposed to be doing the selecting was not here."

The Princess started to speak again, with the lack of uncertainty in her tone now gone. "I am truly sorry for going against your wishes. I was not doing it out of the mere desire of disobeying you or making it appear that I am a rebellious daughter. The goal of my action was to see how my Knight was faring with his illness and only that. I did not intend to hurt or cause trouble to anyone for that matter. But I admit that by doing that, I had also done that as well." She lowered her head and asked for his forgiveness.

The King was immersed in deep thought with what his daughter had said to him. He perfectly knew that she could be unmanageable at times, but not to the extreme extent of rebelliousness.

"I hope you understand the reason behind my actions, Father." She added. "Kisaka is also family to me. If anyone dear to me were sick, I would do the same thing." When he still was not responding, she continued. "I'll take full accountability for my actions. My ladies-in-waiting and the castle Knights have nothing to do with this. If you are to punish someone, it can only be me. Please, do not punish them."

Even if he was in a sour mood because of the antics of his daughter this morning, seeing how she was maturing made him happy. He did not expect this from her at all. He thought that she would have made excuses yet again. But here she was and owned up to her mistakes.

At least now she grasped the essence of being responsible for her own actions, something that he had wanted her to realize a long time ago. He also noted that with this stunt that she pulled, it showed her growing concern for the well being of other people. She showed how she valued Kisaka that much and how she also looked after the wellbeing of the people around her. It was a trait that a Princess should have.

"Very well, you are forgiven." The King declared, much to the relief of the Princess. He sighed in defeat. How could he stay mad at his precious daughter? "But I shall punish you still." He did not fail to mention it.

Cagalli frowned upon hearing that she still was going to be penalized, but accepted it nonetheless. At least, she knew that her father wasn't mad with her anymore.

"You are grounded for a month." He told her. "That means you are not allowed go to town fair this year since I'm not allowing you to leave the castle."

She had wanted to protest with the punishment that she received, but knew better than having her father extend the period of her penalty. Going to the town fair was something that was an annual thing for her. It was something that she always looked forward to! But she would have to break the cycle this year.

"Understood." She agreed, almost bitterly. She would have to miss the circus and the unique items that she could buy! At least she was not penalized to wear dresses or heels for one whole month. It could even be worse than that!

Shifting his attention to the squire who had been kneeling for a while now, the King called out to him. "Squire, kindly stand up."

"Yes!" Athrun did what he was told and stood up quickly. He gulped nervously as he waited for the King to speak again.

"What brings you here?" He had asked him, quite oblivious of the fact that he was asked to come along with the Princess.

It was the Princess that had answered on his behalf. "Father, there seems to be an misunderstanding here." She spoke, thinking that he would get punished. "He did not do anything that merits punishment! In fact, he saved me a while ago from almost getting stabbed by a thief and helped me find my way to Kisaka's house!" She blabbered, completely forgetting to omit the part wherein she almost got killed.

"Thief? You almost got stabbed?" It did not go unnoticed with the King. "When on earth did this happen? Are you feeling well?" He stood up to walk to her and examine if she obtained bruises or if she was hurt anyway.

Surprised by his sudden outburst, she responded. "Yes Father! I am perfectly fine. See?" She nodded and moved around to prove that she was not hurt. "It was because of him that I was able to go back here in one piece." She explained further what had happened when she came to town, that she had been lost for hours and that there had been a thief that was about to plunge his knife. She stressed that it was all thanks to him that she found Kisaka's home and was back to the castle in one piece.

"I see…" The King went near him and smiled. "Thank you for saving my daughter's life. I am truly indebted to you."

With the King showing gratitude towards him so unexpectedly, he became really flustered. "N-no. It was nothing. I-I just…" He could not speak properly in front of the King, not when he showing his gratefulness to him instead of raising his voice at him.

"If there's anything that we can do for you." He offered. "Please let me know."

"Uhm…" Cagalli chided in. "What's your name?"

"Athrun…" He swallowed the lump in his throat. That reminded him, she still did not know his name. Would he recognize her if he had told her? That he was the kid that she had saved before? "My name is Athrun Zala."

She paused and let his name carefully slip through her lips. "Athrun. Athrun Zala…" His heartbeat was getting quicker by the second. He had to hold his breath since he was feeling so tense.

"Father…" She turned to the King, much to his further anxiety. He then wondered the significance of asking his name. "About the selection of Knights…"

"Ah yes, the selection! We have to reschedule that!" He exclaimed. "What about it, Cagalli?"

"Can Athrun Zala be my new Knight?" She asked, with utmost certainty in her voice.

He froze at her words. Was his dream really being materialized? She repeated the words again to her father, whom was as shocked as he was. So he had no been hearing things… The Princess did say that…

All that was on his mind at that moment was that everything that had happened today was just too good to be true. Some dream this must be. Even if this was the best dream, he knew that he had to wake up soon.

Avoiding the line of vision of the Princess and the King, he pinched himself, hard.

It stung.

-o0o-

A/N: Finally done! This chapter got longer than what I've expected. Hoping that it's still a good read even if I shortened/skipped some parts/ Now that I'm done, I have time to read fics again! Hihi.

Oh, I might update a bit later? Say after two weeks? I have an exam I need to study for and also adding that I'm going on an overseas trip for 4 days!

Please review! :D It motivates me to continue my next chapter a lot! Also adding that your suggestions and criticisms help me in my writing.


	4. Duel

A/N: Hello there! The exams are over! Not to mention that I got back from my trip as well (*sighs* I want to go back though). Sorry if this took too long to get posted! In the previous chapter, I had mentioned that it would take 2 weeks to update, but it's almost four weeks so… I'm such a lazy butt at times. Huhu. Don't kill me. Also, I was planning on writing something as a tribute for Athrun's birthday, buuuuuut, I wasn't able to come up with something since I was too preoccupied with other things. Although I want to read some stuff written for that! Any suggestions?

Anyway, on to the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed/Destiny

Chapter 4: Duel

"Can Athrun Zala be my new Knight?"

That string of words that she had uttered to her Father was not similar to the commands of the King that immediately took place. In fact, he was not in agreement with his daughter. "But Cagalli dear, this young man is still a squire." That was what he said.

But the princess seemed to be resolute of her decision. "I know that! But he'll become a Knight soon enough right?" She retorted with no intention of taking back her words.

"In time he will, but right now…" The King then turned his attention to the squire and spoke. "I hope you don't mistake my disinclination to choose you as an insult to your abilities. I know that you are fully aware of the rule, that a Knight should be the one guarding a member of the royal family."

"Yes of course." He replied calmly. He wasn't really taking it personally for he knew that the King was just after the Princess' safety. Everything boils down to his approval anyway. And the fact that everything was happening too fast, he was still even unable to believe that the Princess wanted him to be his Knight.

"But Father, you specifically told me that I could choose my own Knight! And I'm choosing him!" She brought up her father's own words from the other day and the insistence on both ends ensued.

A few moments later, after the King had given up on trying to dissuade her from picking him due to her extreme stubbornness, he had turned to the squire who was still kneeling uncomfortably by the throne as he and his daughter had their verbal exchange of thoughts. "Young squire, when are you taking your oath as a Knight?"

Athrun did not dare to look him in the eye replied. "At the end of October, your Highness." He was lucky enough to make it to the dubbing of Knights for the year. If his birthdate were three days later, he had to wait until the end of April the next year for the ceremony.

"I see. In a few weeks time…" The King paced the room slowly as he thought, the clicking sound of his steps could be heard. It then came into a halt and when he took a peek, the King stopped by the large castle windows completely engulfed in his musings before speaking again. "If I were to ask you now, would you be willing to become my daughter's Knight?"

He raised his head a bit, taken aback with the King's question. He would have stayed that way if not for the mandatory response from him. "Your Highness, it would be a great honor to be the Princess' Knight." He had been grateful that his tone did not come as overly excited as what he had been feeling right now.

"Very well." King Uzumi walked back to his throne and took the seat. "You are to come back here at the castle tomorrow morning to battle with the other Knights. This is to test your strength and combat abilities. I have to be certain that you can protect my daughter when it is called for."

"A battle?!" The princess piped in. "Is that even necessary?" But her father did not answer him as his attention was still on the aspiring Knight.

He took note of the King's instructions in silence. Edginess was starting to creep in his body for the first time. Never did he feel this sensation when he was at the academy. As he thought about it further, this was the real thing. In school, he knew that he could try again if ever he messed up, one careless mistake could mean the end of it.

"Who is the master in the apprenticeship?" The King asked again.

"Your highness, my master is Mu La Flaga."

"The Hawk of Endymion, is he not?"

"Indeed, your majesty." His master was renowned with that title when he had helped the town with that particular name by catching defeating the group of thieves alone.

"I would need to talk to him as well." King Uzumi told him.

"Father!" Cagalli exclaimed in shock. She thought that there was no need "But-"

"Silence Cagalli! I want no more disagreements from you!" He bellowed, much to her fright. She knew better than to keep on arguing with him. Even if she has already reached the age of twenty, the dread that she had felt when she was a little girl was the very same whenever her father raises her voice. "Before I can allow this young man to be your Knight, he has to prove that he is quite capable of protecting you. Do you understand that?"

"Yes, I understand." She answered timidly. "I'm sorry."

"Good." The King then shifted his attention to the squire. "If you are able to combat well and pass the evaluation, you will become the Knight of my daughter at the start of the next month. Are we clear on this, young man?"

"My Lord, everything is clear. Thank you for this opportunity that you have given me. Rest assured that I shall give my best tomorrow." He answered with utmost certainty. He knew it would not be easy, and he was ready for whatever challenges lie ahead of him.

-o0o-

"The Princess chose you as her Knight? That's… That's…" Leonore Zala, his mother, was too startled that she had dropped the plate that she was holding. Her hands made their way to her mouth as a reflex, whenever she tried to contain herself from screaming out loud.

It was a good thing that his reflexes were fast that he had been able to catch the plate before it broke into a number of pieces. "Mother, be careful! You could have hurt yourself." He warned her and put the piece of china on the table.

"I'm sorry about that, Athrun!'" She chose to laugh at the small incident to lighten her son's mood. "I was just so surprised with what you told me that it slipped out of my hand."

He sighed again in defeat. His mother never changed, clumsy as always. His father always warned him to never tell her something shocking when her hands were full; he had always remembered that, except for today. Excitement was pumping throughout his body and he just had to tell someone right away. He had wanted to see Dearka on his way home, to share what an eventful day it was, but he just could not find him.

She got the plate from him, thanking him all the while. "But really, that is amazing! The Princess choosing you… That's really great!"

"That's not guaranteed yet. I still need to prove to King Uzumi that I can play the part perfectly. I'll be going to the castle tomorrow for my showcase of skills." He recalled his close encounter with the King.

"I see… " Her mother got the raw food from the basket and put them on the plate. "And isn't that what you've wanted when you were a kid? That was the reason why you've decided to become a Knight!" She started to wash the vegetables that she was going to cook for dinner.

He might have been embarrassed to respond to that, since she talked about his childhood dream so she started to ask him again. "I thought that you have not been able to talk to the Princess since that time when you were young? Do tell me how did it even happen! I'm very much excited to hear every single detail." She had her attention both on him and to the food that she was preparing.

With the long moment of silence that arose after that, she turned around and expected him to be flustered as he sat on the table. But when she did, she realized that she was not talking to anyone at all. Athrun had disappeared swiftly like a gust of wind. She figured that he rushed to the stable outside their house to prepare himself while there was still time.

She went to the kitchen window and took a peek. She was right. There he was, untying the horse from the wooden fence. He loaded his weapons on the horse and was preparing to ride it. Walking back to the kitchen, she smiled to herself. As his mother, she could not help but feel proud and happy for him.

Even if he didn't tell her, she knew very well that he was very fond of the Princess. She noticed that Athrun had that acted in an odd manner whenever the topic of their conversation would be about the Princess. For her, it was quite odd that he would suddenly feel uncomfortable, not to mention, flustered. She also wasn't that old to forget that he had wanted to become the Princess' Knight when he was younger.

Whatever happened in town back then, she had no way of knowing. For when she tried to ask him, he would turn red and avoid the question. Although she wanted to know what took place when Athrun got separated from her that day, for he changed a lot after that incident. Before, he never looked forward to anything and preferred that he stayed at home. But after that incident, he was the one who even pleaded that he study at the academy to study and train. She also noticed that he had been gaining friends and was beginning to come out of his timid shell.

She was grateful for that fateful encounter. Her son became a better person because of it. He became enthusiastic with new things, goal-oriented, hardworking and a sociable person. If it weren't for that, she didn't know if he would still turn out to be the person that he is now.

As she watched him again as he trained, she could only wish the best for him. A selfish part of her did not want him to be accepted for she knew that her son would be separated from her. But that part of her that wanted him to be happy pervaded more. She knew that she had to let him go. As his mother, she wanted him to reach his dreams and if this were what he desired, then she would support him till the very end.

Tomorrow, she hoped that when he came back home, it was to tell her that he had been successful.

-o0o-

Morning came by quicker than he had expected.

Looking at his reflection on the mirror one last time, he took a deep and very apprehensive breath. He checked his clothing once more to see if he looked decent enough to be presented to the royal family. His undershirt and underpants seemed to be in the right place, along with his surcoat. He had put on the garments of the squire pristinely. What would make it distinct was that he did not have the armor that Knights wear during combats or missions, and he hoped that this would not pose as a disadvantage for him.

He had to admit, it seemed like he looked more washed out than usual. He had prepared all night for today's affair. He had been practicing his fighting skills and horse-riding abilities until it got too late that his parents instructed that he should get some rest. He had wanted to practice some more but they were insistent, to the extent of confiscating his sword.

Even with his parents forcing him to call it a night, he was unable to doze off. With all the eventful things that happened today, and the anticipation of what tomorrow could bring, how could he even? Tossing and turning in his mat, he would not forgive himself if he failed miserably due to lack of sleep.

"Athrun…" His mother's voice could be heard beyond his door. "Are you finished preparing? Hurry up and eat something before you leave."

He grabbed his sword that was resting on his mattress and attached it on the leather belt on his waist. It felt heavier than usual and it might have been because he was feeling so nervous.

Opening the door, his mother greeted him with a beaming smile. "Good morning honey!"

"Good morning, mother." He managed to let out a weak smile.

"You already look worn-out at this time of the day!" His mother noticed the darkened bags under his eyes.

"I had a hard time sleeping." He explained, leaving out the part that he did not even get a wink of sleep.

She still had that worried expression on her face. "No matter! You should eat a lot so you'll have energy."

He couldn't have agreed more. At least he would not be placed at a bigger disadvantage. Running on zero hours of sleep, he was to fight some of Orb's gallant Knights. Skipping the morning meal would make things worse on his end.

His mother was too kind to have cooked a lot today. A lot of food set on the table was now on his porcelain plate, bread, eggs, meat and fruits. He knew this was more than what he usually ate but he needed it right now.

"Son, good morning." His father sat down the table with him, getting a bread bun and putting it in his mouth. He was dressed for work and the difference between their moods could be easily noted. He was calm and relaxed in his chair while his son was too tense and had been too uptight.

"Good morning to you too, father…" He acknowledged his father that was sitting across the wooden table and continued eating.

"Don't be so tense now. I know that today's your big day, but you have to lighten up!" Patrick Zala immediately sensed the negative aura surrounding his son. "You worked so hard for this for so many years now. We've been a witness to that. You always study and train, be it a weekend or weekday, sunrise or sun down. And you don't have to hide the fact that you sometimes practice in the middle of the night even when we tell you to sleep."

Athrun froze, leaving half of the bread resting on his mouth. He had gaped wide as the bun dropped back on the plate. "You know about that?"

"Of course we do." His father nodded and had a stern expression on his features. "We cannot really sleep if you keep on making clanging noises with your sword in the middle of the night, now can we? We also know that you read during the night using the wax candle, even if we had warned you that it was bad for the eyes. What would you do if your eyes got damaged? All the more that the royal family would not favor you."

"Ohhh…" His voice trailed off, unsure whether his father was giving him words of encouragement for the upcoming duel with the other Knight or a lecture on disobeying his orders.

"Now, now dear." His mother coaxed her husband by gently rubbing his back. "Now is really not the time to give a sermon."

"I wasn't!" He defended himself. "I was just telling him to loosen up!"

"It didn't seem that way to me." His mother crossed her arms and raised her brow at him. "You're making him feel worse."

Patrick let out a nervous chuckle upon seeing his wife give him that look. "Well, I may have swayed out of topic just a little…"

His wife still was not convinced, sitting on one side of their square table, she stared at his husband suspiciously.

Obviously embarrassed by what his wife pointed out, he cleared his throat and turned back to Athrun. "Anyway son, like what I said earlier, I know that you'll do well today that's why there's no need for you to feel so anxious. You're one of the best squires here in Orb. I'm not just saying that because you're my son, but because it's what I've been hearing from the Knights that I'm acquainted with. I also know that you're very determined and you have a good heart, a quality that makes a good Knight."

"Father…" He was surprised to hear those words coming from his father. He wasn't really expressive with these kinds of things, which was why he was utterly speechless.

"My son, just do your best and you'll be fine." His gave her a warm smile.

"And remember," His mother chimed in. "No matter what happens after this, we'll continue to be here for you, okay?"

"Mother…"

Looking at both of his parents as they smiled on him, he could not help but feel really grateful for them.

"Thank you, Father, Mother."

Soon after, his father joked. "Beat those other Knights, okay?! Show them what the Zala pride is all about! Now hurry up with your meal and leave!" The last words came out more of a command. But even so, a smile made its way on his face. His father and mother's words helped in revitalizing his spirits. With his parents supporting him, he had brought with him his own armor that was strong enough to get him through the challenge.

"I understand. I'll be heading off now." It could be noticed that he had gained more confidence after that short while.

-o0o-

Moments after he got to the castle, he was instructed to head to the colliseum in which plays and all sorts of entertainment were held for the royal bloods. The test would take place there, they have said. Walking past the elegant stone halls with the adorned paintings of the royal family and ornate displays that must have caused a fortune, he heaved a nervous breath. He could not even pause for a moment to appreciate the grandeur of it all.

He held his breath deeply while clutching his sword tighter in his hands. He was made to wear the metallic armor of the Knights. He felt the weight of the armor getting heavier by the second. This was his first time wearing such equipment. As he neared the large doors to the stadium, he could only think about what kind of duel he was to face beyond the large doors.

The sound of his beating heart was suddenly audible enough for him to hear. It resounded in every part of his body. Every step he took, he could feel it getting faster. He heaved a deep breath to relax himself, but alas, the sensation was too strong to be gone in an instant.

If he could, he wanted to clutch the amulet that hung on his chest but he could not because of the metallic armor. But even without it, he muttered a prayer to Haumea hoping that everything would go well.

"Wait!" A faint voice called out to him.

He froze in his tracks. He knew whom that voice belonged to.

He turned around and was right. "Princess?" The shock in his voice was evident. It was Princess Cagalli, struggling in her light blue dress and shoes as she ran towards him. She had been holding the skirt of her garment up and the look on her face told him that she was really having a hard time walking in those things.

"Princess!" Two ladies chased after her. "Please don't run, Princess!" He figured that the two of them were her ladies-in-waiting.

She did not pay attention to their pleading. He walked towards her, almost briskly, so that she did not need to walk a greater distance. "Athrun!" She finally stopped running, but that was when she had reached him. Her hands leaned on her elbow as she continued to catch her breath. "Thank goodness I made it in time."

"Princess!" The younger lady-in-waiting caught up with her, and she was panting as well.

"Sorry Meyrin," She said in between breaths. "Could you leave us alone for a moment? Please, and thank you!"

"Eehh? U-uhm…" She started to stutter as soon as she heard that. "Of course, milady!" She immediately turned back to stop the other lady-in-waiting from approaching them and cleared the vicinity.

She finally recomposed herself and stood up straight. Her hands fixed the possible wrinkles on her dress from the running and faced him. Small beads of sweat were forming on her forehead and her hair was in disarray, but he did not mind, she still looked very beautiful. For her to run like that just to see him, it was a very heartwarming feeling.

"Athrun I… I just wanted to apologize to you, that you have to undergo all of these things just because of my hasty decision yesterday. You don't have to do this if you don't want to, you know. I'll completely understand." A worried expression was written all over her face.

His eyes widened at what she had told him. Did he appear like he did not want to be here?

"Princess! That's not…" He was thinking of the right words to say to her. "It's alright! I'm fine with all of these! It's not true that I do not want this. To tell you the truth, I have always wanted to be your Knight… Ever since I was a little kid. I had wanted it more than anything!" He had blurted that out that both of them were surprised. He had cursed himself inwardly that he had expressed his thoughts in words.

He observed that her hazel eyes widened at that. "You…" She was at a loss for a decent response to him. "What did you…" It was evident that she wondered greatly as to why he said that.

Rather than having her think that he was an obsessed lurker, he then decided that it was best that he told her everything. "Fourteen years ago…"

"Fourteen years ago?" She urged him to go on.

"I was in town with my mother for the fair. As I looked around, I noticed that there was a puppet show and that a lot of people were surrounding it. That sparked my interest as it was my first time seeing one."

She did not say anything, but just looked at him, seemingly clueless of what he was trying to say. He took it as a cue to continue.

"Back then, most of the townsfolk didn't want anything to do with me. Rumors were spreading around that I was very dangerous kid and had been cursed by a witch because of the red blotches of my skin. Of course, that was due to the fact that I caught a rare disease back then that we now call 'chickenpox'. But without that discovery before, they had inclined to think that it was caused by a supernatural occurrence. That was the reason why most of the people avoided me."

Her eyes widened when he mentioned that. She remembered having that 'chickenpox' when she was younger, but that was about it. She was racking her brain, trying to recall everything that he was telling her.

"Anyway, when I went to the stall of the puppet show to have a closer look, some of the folks recognized me and tried to send me away. They resorted to saying hurtful words, even to point of hurting me. That time, I felt like I was really hated and that I was being punished by something that I didn't do. I wanted to… disappear from everyone."

"Athrun…" Her voice was filled with concern as he told her that.

"But it's alright now." A warm smile was on his face. "Princess that was because you came."

"I did?" She asked him, to which he responded with a nod.

"Yes. I remember that you even scolded the townsfolk that time for the way that they treated me." He chuckled lightly at the fond memory. "We even wandered around the town fair, but we got lost. We ended up sitting down and that was when we talked about all other things. That was, until Sir Kisaka found you."

She was starting to recall that certain moment of her childhood. She did recollect shouting at a group of people before because they were being mean to the poor little boy. That boy and she had the same disease! She felt sorry for him for the treatment that he had gotten from them.

"_I'm Cagalli! You?"_

"_Athrun!"_

Athrun was that boy!

Her eyes brightened when she ascertained it. "I remember now! I do! You were that kid! With blue hair and emerald eyes! It was you!" She was zealous at that realization that the kid back then and the gallant squire before her was the same person. "That explains why I felt like I know you… " It was true. That was the reason why she had trusted him yesterday. That gut feeling within her was also the basis for her decision of choosing him as her Knight.

"For the Princess to remember me, it makes me feel so happy." His features brightened up when he saw the Princess react like that. Initially, he thought that she had completely forgotten about him. But knowing that she actually remembered him, he felt a weird and fluttery sensation overtaking him.

A frown was then evident in her face. "I'm sorry if I wasn't able to recognize you... If you hadn't reminded me, maybe I would not even realize that."

"It's alright, your Highness. Don't worry about it." He shook his head to reassure her.

She asked him again. "The reason that you want to be my Knight, was because I saved you back then? To return the favor?" As pleased as she was to meet him again, she hoped that he did not dedicate his whole life just because he felt obligated to pay her back.

He shook his head, the light from the windows made its way to the dark halls, illuminating his face. "It was more than that, milady." He paused for a moment before he spoke again. "To me, you were my savior back then. You stood up for me in front of all those people that ridiculed me when no one else did and I had admired you for that. You were the first friend that I have ever had. Our encounter changed my life completely. That is why I…" He had wanted to say that he desired to always be by her side, but he could not bring himself to say those bold words out loud.

"Athrun…" Her voice trailed off. She could feel the sincerity in his words and somehow, it moved her. She knew of herself as a stubborn princess and a rebellious daughter that could not even imagine herself touching the lives of the people around her. And yet here he was, telling her that she did just that, much to her bewilderment.

He got down on one knee and lowered his head as he spoke. "If you'd let me, Princess, I want to be your Knight."

"H-h-he-hey! D-don't kneel in front of me! That's embarrassing!" He could hear the Princess stutter at his actions. Was she getting flustered like him? He wanted to look up but stayed in his position. Even though she was Orb's Princess, he had a feeling that she really didn't want to be treated like one. Although he did not want to make her uncomfortable, that was the only way that he knew how to convey his true feelings to her.

When he wasn't moving an inch even with her plead to stop kneeling, Cagalli figured that he was expecting a decent response from her.

"Athrun, I already chose you remember?" She laughed lightly. "That's why you don't have to ask me that anymore. Okay?"

"Thank you, Princess." He lowered his head and continued. "Thank you for believing in me. I am very grateful that you have faith in me. That is why; I'll try my very best. I promise."

"I know you will."

He turned his head up to the direction of the Princess and found a sight that he did not expect to see. It was her hand, and it was reaching out for him. "Here, I'll help you stand up."

At first, he had second thoughts on whether he should accept her offer. It might be too audacious and immodest of him to even do that. The contact that they had during yesterday was a different case. He had no choice but to grasp her arm and pull her towards him. But to take her hand now…

It would be rude of him to refuse. She had held out her hand to him and it would be ill-mannered of him to ignore it. Even with this simple act of staring blankly at her hand, he was already being disrespectful to her. Either way, he was going to told that he did something wrong.

So without any further hesitation, he gratefully accepted her offer and grabbed a hold of her hand. He stood up, using his foot as a support so she did not have to exert much strength in pulling her up. Her hand was very smooth and warm, something that he wouldn't mind clasping all day. But when she finally let go, he could not help but feel tad disappointed with the lost contact.

"Well then, I wish you the best of luck." She had given him that bright smile of hers that made everything else seem around her seem grey and dull. "And another thing, be careful okay?" Concern was evident on her features that it made him forget all the nervousness that he was feeling prior to this meeting with her.

"I'll try." He told her. He could not promise her that he would not

She was about to speak until the castle guards cut in.

"Your Highness, please excuse my rudeness, but Athrun Zala is needed at the coliseum. The battles are about to start and the King ordered that he be called immediately." The guard looked at her apologetically, hoping that she would not get displeased with him interrupting their conversation.

"I understand." She nodded to the castle guard, much to his relief and turned back to the squire. "Well then Athrun, I'm going to tell you again; be careful and good luck! I'll be watching you as well and I'll come and see you after your matches. You can do it!"

"Yes, of course. Thank you, Princess." He also nodded to acknowledge her words before excusing himself. The formality in his tone was back for the time being. "Your Highness, I'll be taking my leave now. Excuse me."

With that, he had inhaled deeply before he followed the castle guard to the coliseum; leaving the blonde Princess to clasp her hands together and to hope that he gets past this challenge.

The doors to the stadium opened, and he swore that he somehow lost his breath when the he saw the sights.

So this was it then.

He whispered a prayer to Haumea. He wasn't expecting anything that might disappoint him in the

-o0o-

Once he was led to the stadium, he was instructed to mount the black horse that was resting on a small stable. It would have been easier to climb in while wearing his normal clothes but it was done with much more difficulty with the armor that he had on his body. He felt as if he was heavier with what he was wearing. Ascending the horse on its left side, he pushed himself up on the saddle, swinging his other leg on the its other end.

He had observed the stadium from his position. It was really humongous. The King was seated on the benches in the coliseum, with the Princess seated beside him, along with a couple of castle guards surrounding them. A number of Knights were also scattered on the seats. He could see the Princess give him a wave and that made him smile to himself and relax a bit more.

Shifting in the saddle for a more comfortable position, one of the Knights came to him.

"For this test, we want to see how you can command the horse well. The goal is that you stay on the steed even when the other Knights try to assault you. Whatever you wish to do to stay in the horse, if you want to gallop away or to combat with them, it is up to you. But of course, you have to take note of code of conduct. You will be timed so when the signal goes on and you are still in your horse, then you make it to the next phase." He reminded him. "Is everything clear?"

He took a look at the middle of the stadium and saw that there were two Knights waiting for him as they settled in their own horses. They were chatting casually while occasionally looking at him. He recognized them as the Knights that were ordained two years back. It was Sir Heine Westenfluss and Sir Rusty Mackenzie. He remembered that these two were exceptional when it came to horseback riding. They weren't making it easy for him, even by just one bit.

"Yes of course. Thank you." He acknowledged the reminder of the Knight as he adjusted his helmet. Pulling the visor over his eyes to protect it from the violent rays of the sun and from the sharp weapons that could hit it.

"Please proceed to the other end of the stadium." He prompted the horse to follow his lead by pulling him gently using the ropes attached to its neck. It posed as a difficulty to him to navigate the horse to where he wanted to go to, as he was unfamiliar with it. It would have been nicer to have his own horse with him today in this battle, but he knew that would not be possible.

Slowly, he noticed that the friendly faces of the Knights were slowly disappearing as they rode their horse. The minute he reached the other end of the stadium, the sound of trumpets could be heard. It was the signal of the start of the test.

The two Knights charged upon him on that signal. He was surprised that they were assaulting him at such speed. Gripping the ropes of the horse, he motioned it to gallop to one side. It first didn't show any signs of recognizing his signal and stayed put, but after pulling it again, that was the only time it had moved. Instead of running, it had been slowly trotting to the opposite direction.

Sir Mackenzie was the first to reach him and swung his weapon. And it wasn't just a wooden stick; it was a very sharp sword. He had avoided the sword by tilting himself along with the horse. If he had not, his arm had a high chance of getting bruised badly.

Feeling the high probability of getting killed in this competition, he had kicked the horse on its side and thank goodness, it started to move faster. But still, it didn't move to the course that he wanted it to. It had been difficult to navigate the stallion as compared to the one back at home, but he knew that he couldn't really complain about it.

He noticed that there had been wooden hurdles that were set on the grounds. They were about to run on it and they had no choice but to direct it to leap on the said railings. He tightened his feet around the horse's body as he motioned it to jump, careful of falling off the horse. The armor was weighing him down and he had wanted to take it off badly.

When it had landed on its hooves, he almost was shoved to the muddy ground if not for the tight hold that he had on the horse. He had to recompose himself quickly as the two men were still on the assault. Sitting up straight, he had to find a spot that he could run off to.

Sir Westenfluss was charging at him in his white horse on his left, while the Sir Mackenzie was on his right with the brown one. He panicked for a moment as he saw the both of them cornering him, but he knew he had to think of a move, and fast. Using the free space at the side of Sir Mackenzie, he chose to run off to that direction before the two of them managed to get him off his horse, seeing that the two of them were now holding their swords in an attempt to make him fall off. The horse moved a bit slower to his liking but at least he had dodged the swing of Sir Mackenzie's sharp weapon.

There was a point on the other end of the stadium that he could go to. As he motioned his horse to follow his command, he had thought that it would be pointless if he continued to run away like that. Sooner or later, the two Knights will come up with a strategy and catch him off guard.

He was right, they have become more aggressive in trying to dismount him off the horse. They were attacking him in all directions and he could do nothing but to keep avoiding them. Sir Westenfluss had gotten hold of his bow and arrow and was preparing to strike it at him.

A shot fired and it was aimed at the foot of the horse. The black stallion panicked at the sudden attack and raised his two front legs up. Athrun could not do anything but to grasp the horse as it lifted off the ground. He cursed under his breath as he felt his grip loosening. He was going to fall.

The horse then dropped to muddy earth and dashed off yet again. His body tilted to the right side when it did. Any second now, he might fall off. His armor wasn't helping. The helmet loosened and the visor blocked his view. Propelling himself upwards, he got back on the saddle of the horse and adjusted in his seat. He cursed again. Sweat was all over his body underneath the armor, and he didn't like the feeling.

There was no chance that he would get the hang of navigating the castle horse today, he knew that. It took him a few months before he had completely mastered riding "Minerva", their horse, which was why he didn't want to depend on this horse so much right now. He knew it needed time before the stallion put its complete trust in him, like Minerva.

A few more shots were fired at him, to which he had avoided with a stroke of luck. One arrow almost hit him in the chest, if not for him moving swiftly to one side. He didn't know how they could even do that without hesitation.

He had to find a way to stay in this horse, but without him worrying about his body parts getting chopped off with this horse's unwillingness to follow his orders.

Looking at the two Knights, which were in a very serious attempt to dismantle him from the horse at all costs, he couldn't stay in a defensive stance all this time.

Time to switch to the offensive side.

He had to attack them.

Drawing out his sword from his belt, he had positioned it in an attacking stance. He yanked the ropes of the horse yet again, hoping that it would listen to him, just this one time. "Please, help me."

To his surprise, it seemed to have sensed his plead and charged forward. He let out a roar and wanted this to be done. The two Knights were shocked from his sudden change in tactics and stopped in their pursuit of him and braced themselves for defensive measures.

First, he had to attack Sir Heine Westenfluss first. His weapon served as a bigger threat that Sir Rusty Mackenzie's. In one swift twist of his sword, he had managed to drop the Knights weapon to the ground. The Knight seemed shocked with the sudden occurence and froze, that was when he turned his attention to Rusty Mackenzie.

They had started to combat while still straddled on their horses. Sir Mackenzie was skillful in his handling his sword that he had difficulty in trying to disarm him of it. He had wanted to finish this quickly that he had charged him with a bit more strength. He felt his competitor's horse slowly backing away, a clear indication that he was started to dominate him.

He had caught him off guard, and he took this chance to finally give the finishing blow. That was when he had heard the sound of the trumpets go.

"Stop! That will be all for this match!" The castle guard had shouted. The two Knights retreated to the exit. Sir Westenfluss was clearly annoyed about what he had done, trotting past him with his head held high and muttering some words about him having the audacity to even do that to him. "Foolish squire. Thinking that he'd be suitable enough for the Princess when they could choose me." And a lot more words along those lines came out from his mouth.

Sir Mackenzie on the other hand went to him and congratulated him to a job well done. Also adding a reminder to not mind Heine's words, as he was just not used to being defeated.

After which, the castle guard came to him and he was instructed to go to the waiting chamber and wait for the last challenge.

He finally removed the helmet and the cool air that was breezing through his face felt nice. Taking a look at the benches, he saw the Princess waving at him again, in a more excited manner at that.

That was all the motivation that he needed.

-o0o-

Standing in front of him, was a person that he did not expect to see.

When they had told him that he was about to have an actual combat on the next test with a very skillful Knight, he did not anticipate it to be him.

Noticing Athrun's eyes widening as he came out to the stadium, he smirked. "What's the matter, Athrun?" Sir La Flaga asked him and stopped in his tracks a few meters away from him. He drew out his sword and pointed it to his student. "What's with the surprised look on your face? Don't think that you can defeat me?" He had an aura that was oozing of so much confidence, that Athrun could not say the same on his end. His master is one cocky guy after all, but it was backed up by his astounding skills.

"Sir La Flaga…" His voice trailed off, still surprised upon seeing his master was the one that he was about to face. It could be said that this match was one that he was bound to lose. Sir La Flaga had been one of the best Knights in Orb when it came to close combat. He remembered being so amazed when he had taken on three Knights in a fight, but still ended up victorious.

How would he even become the Princess Knight now? He had been sure that his skills were good enough to protect the Princess and to match up against other squires, but to defeat his master? He was unsure of that. They had occasional matches as part of his training, but never did he get favorable results.

Would he even stand a chance?

"Listen kiddo." His master spoke again, addressing him with the label that he was a young boy. "I'm not going to go easy on you like when we do sparring. That's why, you also shouldn't hold back. Got it?" He put the helmet on his head and adjusted it slightly.

He put down the visor of his own to cover his eyes and was about to respond to his master. But before he could even do that, a castle guard signaled that their duel had begun. Sir La Flaga was in a stance that was about to attack. He was preparing as well for any sudden attack. Gripping this sword tighter, he let out a heave of nervous breath. He was about to face his master that trained him for many years. The result may not incline to his favor.

Without notice, his master lunged on him. It was a good thing that he had a hold of his sword and put it forward to block Sir La Flaga's weapon from slicing him. The sword almost grazed the top of his head, and he had swallowed hard when he realized how close that was.

"Not bad, kid." Sir La Flaga commented as he exerted more force on to the sword by leaning more to his apprentice's direction. The squire had been putting all of his strength on his arms as he used his own to protect himself. "But…" He withdrew from his position, and took a few steps back, only to attack him with a much greater force, to which Athrun had successfully blocked for the second time. "Let's see how long you'll last."

Bracing the hold that he had on his sword, he stepped away to gather up some strength to switch to the offensive, but Sir La Flaga had beaten him to it by charging to him once more. He had swung his sword, aiming to hit the lower part of his body, to which he avoided by backing away.

His master had wielded the sword and targeted it to hit his body. It was a good thing that he had been training almost everyday. If not, then he would have imagined himself going home, with bruises and severed body parts.

Beads of sweat were now forming all over his body. His hands felt clammy as it held on to the weapon, but he knew he could not loosened his grip his sword. For if he did, it would mean that he had lost the battle.

"_Damn it!_" Today, he had been using profanity a lot more than he usually did.

The duel continued on, with his master on the upper hand. He kept on bombarding him with attacks that he had no choice but to be on the defending end. His body avoided every chance of getting hit, and he used the sword to stop it from getting past him any further.

He was always getting backed into a corner. Even when he had tried to push himself back in the middle, Sir La Flaga would skillfully trap him again. With too little space for him to move around, it had been becoming harder to avoid the attacks. One twist of his master's sword actually grazed him on the shoulder, a blond spot that the armor did not cover.

With the stinging pain on his right shoulder, his dominant hand, he could not utilize his sword properly. And he could only avoid the strikes aimed at him.

His master didn't seem like he had any difficulty at all. Now that he thought about it, of course he would not. He wasn't called the 'Hawk of Endymion' for nothing. All his movements were calculated and very much precise. Compared to his master, here he was, exerting his utmost effort to keep up with him.

Athrun could tell that he seemed amused by him struggling to keep up with him. He could only point out the very sadistic nature of his master at work. He could see his lips formed into a grin as he saw him trying exerting all of his efforts to fight back. At this moment, it seemed like he wasn't his master, but a rival that was very pleased to see him losing.

"Kiddo, if you keep at this, you're going to lose." Sir La Flaga's voice then came, much to his surprise.

He did not respond to that, as he was still preoccupied in dodging his attacks. He knew that perfectly! But what could he do? Sir La Flaga was really strong. He was only a decade older than him and yet the difference of their skills seemed to also be many years apart.

La Flaga was at it again, assaulting from any possible angle. "Hey," He spoke in between strokes. "Do you remember what I've told you in the past? When I first had a practice match with you?"

He managed to give a reply. "What you said to me during the first time we had a match?" He repeated his words and shuffled for some distant memory in his head.

"Yes!" He nodded, as he pointed the sword at him. "Don't tell me you've forgotten already. Didn't I tell you that it was the most important thing I may be able to teach you?"

With those words, the brief recollection of that moment flashed in his mind.

_He fell with his face flat on the floor. It was his first practice match with his master, and it did not go well for him. After a few seconds of entering into the battle, Sir La Flaga successfully outmatched him, leaving him lying there with shame overpowering his body. He thought that he could at least surprise his master with what he was about to show him. But that all went down the drain for the difference in their strength was too great._

"_Kid. Stand up." His master bellowed, ignoring the atmosphere of self-pity that was surrounding his apprentice. "Hurry up."_

_Gritting his teeth, he stood up unwillingly. He knew that he could not dismiss his master's command. He was lucky enough to be the squire chosen by Sir La Flaga even when a lot of squires have wanted to be under his guidance. _

_His master walked to him and raised his arm to ruffle his midnight blue hair. He really felt like a kid when Sir La Flaga did that. "Don't feel bad. This is just your first try." He could see him giving him a warm smile. "This is what I'm here for, remember? To train you so you can become an excellent Knight."_

_He nodded, still feeling the disappointment from his utter defeat. _

_Sir La Flaga then released the hold that he had on his hair and crossed his arms. Athrun could tell that the expression on his face became a stern one._

"_Let me tell you this one important thing." He then started. "And listen to me well, because this is the most vital lesson that I will impart to you."_

_He then looked up to meet his eyes, wondering what that piece of information could be. _

"_One shouldn't fight just for the heck of it, but when you have to do it, it is for the reason that you want to protect. Always think about what you want to protect and never lose sight of it. That way, when you get out to the battlefield, it has more meaning because you are pulling your strength from it." He was looking out to the sky as he said those words. _

Fighting because you want to protect…

As he avoided the strings of attack from his master, he had pondered upon those words that he said to him on that one morning.

What did he want to protect?

His master had taken a few steps back, and he had a chance to look up at the benches.

There she was, the Princess, with that very distressed look in her face as he was out here, fighting it out with his master.

Sir La Flaga started to pummel him again with his sword. As he continued to be in combat with him, he was now starting to understand the words that he had said to him when he was younger.

By just one look at her, he knew that he wanted to fight to protect her. He had seen her cry, and he had felt bad because of it more than anything. He didn't want to see her in tears. That smile of hers that warmed the hearts of many, he wanted to protect that.

To see her smiling, that was the best feeling in the world.

He didn't know what happened, but for some strange reason, an unknown force surged within his veins. He could see the movement of his master very clearly, to the extent that he could predict where he would strike next. Lifting his feet off the muddy ground, he had used it to drive himself to his master, while blocking the weapon from hitting him.

A smile was formed in his master's lips yet again upon seeing the change in tactics of his apprentice. "That's what I'm talking about, kid."

He used his feet to leap to his master, attacking him with the sword. The pain on his arm stung, but it wasn't enough to prevent him from swinging the steel blade with all his might. He was letting out a yell with his every hit, and it surprised him, but he still continued to do so. It did not matter to him if he sounded like a complete idiot anymore.

With the image of the Princess in his mind, he had started to be more aggressive. He now was able to force his master to take a few steps back as he moved forward, completely reversing their situation.

A few moments later, he could feel his right shoulder reaching its limit. The amount of blood flowing freely out of the grazed part, he did not know.

There was a time that he had winced in pain, as he was about to swing the sword to attack. This was the opportunity that his master took and he had knocked off the blade out of Athrun's hands.

At that time, the only thing that registered on his mind was to prevent the sword from falling to the ground. He had propelled himself to it by tumbling backwards and was about to reach it, when Mwu La Flaga chased after him.

"Impossible kid! You won't defeat me today!"

It felt like time slowed down as Athrun stretched out his hand to it. With his master in close proximity and with the intention of charging at him to make sure that he wasn't successful, his mind shuffled for a quick tactic.

He will definitely become the Princess' Knight.

He would not get defeated today.

He had gotten hold of the sword and using the remaining force that his right hand had, he had passed it to his other hand sideways. Using all the force that he had on his left hand, he retaliated.

The sound of the blades as they hit each other resounded throughout the coliseum.

All the Knights that were watching as speechless beyond compare as the staggering scene unfolded in front of them.

His master didn't have the chance to even be shocked because with one swift move, his blade was sent flying to the air and landed on the ground, a few meters away from the both of them.

Athrun was still in an offensive stance, as he pointed the blade of his sword to his master. His breathing had been ragged, as he was too exhausted with the battle. He could see his sword trembling under his grip, perhaps this was all the rush and sensation finally residing. The sensation on his right shoulder was now very evident as the pain was throbbing so much, worsening every second.

Looking at the astounded expression that was tainted on his master's face and the clanging of the metal to the ground, he had tried to contain the surprise that he had felt at that moment. Did this really happen? Did he really defeat him?

His master followed the trajectory of his weapon and found it on the ground, far away from them. Looking back at his squire who still had the very determined look on his face, with the blade finally pointed to him for the first time, he relaxed.

Athrun then heard an applaud coming from his master, a number of Knights that were seated on the benches followed suit. All the incessant clapping noises coming from them made it harder to believe that he had succeeded.

"Congratulations, Athrun." His master's acclaim to his achievement caught his attention. He had to note that he wasn't calling him 'kid' or 'kiddo'. "You've beaten me." The tone of his voice wasn't one of frustration at all. In fact, he had been proud that his student had come so far and had defeated him. To him, the fact that Athrun was able to outmatch him meant that he had done his job as his master well. That was good enough for him.

"T-thank you, Sir La Flaga. Thank you very much for everything." Removing the helmet from his head, he then lowered his head to bow down to his master. Whatever he was now, he owed it all to him. If not for his rigid training sessions with his master, he didn't know if he could even make it this far.

Sir La Flaga's hand was on his shoulder and he patted it gently. "Good luck on the rest of your endeavors, Athrun. You'll make a fine Knight of the Princess." He said to him. "It was an honor to train you as my apprentice."

"Sir, it is an honor to be under your guidance." He told his master as well. "I don't think I'd be standing right here if it weren't for you."

"Well, enough of this sentimental talk, kiddo. I'm not used to this type of this." His master was back to his carefree mood as he put his arm around Athrun and started to whisper in a voice that only the two of them can hear. "Anyway, I hope you don't regret being the Princess' Knight. I hear she's a stubborn one."

He could only laugh at that, but looking again to the direction of their audience, he caught sight of her.

There she was, standing on the edge of the benches, almost about to fall off to the stadium grounds. Clad in her blue dress, she looked elegant as ever as she stood there. She looked relieved that the match was over, and was waving to him like she was welcoming him as he was returning from a battle.

"Athrun!" She called out to him, the smile on her face never disappearing. "Congratulations!"

Seeing her rejoice for him like that, he could not help but thank dear Haumea for everything.

He knew that this was the start of a new phase of his life.

-o0o-

A/N: Hello! Finally done with the chapter. Thoughts? Were the battle scenes okay? I struggled to write them because I have zero experience when it comes to writing those kinds of things. Not to mention, I had to research how they do this and that during duels. It might feel like it had been rushed/not really detailed. I apologize for that.

See you in the next chapter!


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